Mukhitho in Ethiopia: Malawi signs bilateral pact to fight trafficking

Malawi’s Minister of Homeland Security, Peter Mukhitho, is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to sign a landmark bilateral agreement targeting human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants between the two nations — the latest move in an intensifying crackdown on trafficking networks operating across the region.

Upon his arrival, Mukhitho was welcomed by Belayhun Yirga Kifile, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Justice, alongside Khwauli Msiska, Malawi’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, in a show of diplomatic goodwill signalling the seriousness both governments are attaching to the agreement.

The signing comes at a critical time for Malawi, which has seen a troubling surge in human trafficking cases in recent years, many involving Ethiopian nationals allegedly caught up in trafficking networks operating within the country’s borders.

Authorities on both sides have grown increasingly alarmed at the scale of the problem, with vulnerable migrants reportedly being funnelled through Malawi as part of wider trafficking routes stretching across the region.

The new agreement is expected to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, paving the way for improved intelligence-sharing, coordinated law enforcement action, and smoother extradition processes for suspects wanted in connection with trafficking offences.

It comes just weeks after a significant breakthrough in the fight against trafficking gangs, when a notorious trafficking kingpin was extradited from Malawi to Ethiopia to face charges over his alleged role in a trafficking operation — a case that highlighted the deepening cross-border cooperation between the two nations’ security agencies.

Officials say the newly signed pact is designed to build on that momentum, providing a formal legal framework to help dismantle trafficking syndicates and protect vulnerable migrants from exploitation as both governments intensify their joint response to the crisis.