The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) directed that all UN personnel working in Phalombe and Mulanje should relocate to Blantyre following the spate of attacks and killing of innocent people on suspicion that they are bloodsuckers by the local communities in the two districts.

The directive was one of the recommendations contained in a UNDSS report on the security situation in the two districts, issued on October 6 2017.

But Malawi Government Spokesperson Nicholas Dausi has urged the international bodies and the entire diplomatic community not to be afraid saying calm was slowly returning to the two districts.

“Let tourists that want to visit Malawi and the entire nation know that the situation of blood sucking which is being over exaggerated should not warrant donor countries, cooperating partners or tourists to shun or withdraw their members from Phalombe, Mulanje and Thyolo because the situation is normalizing and government is doing all it can to stop the situation so much so that people should go about freely because Malawi is a warm heart of Africa,” said Dausi.

 
The UNDSS report further directed the suspension of all missions going to the affected areas- unless emergencies-should be temporarily suspended or transfer the risk to the implementing partners on the ground until the situation is back to normal.

In its analysis, the UN has linked the bloodsuckers issue to high level of illiteracy coupled with idle minds.

Meanwhile, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kondwani Nankhumwa, who is also Parliamentarian for Mulanje Central, has requested people of the district to allow services to operate normally despite blood sucking rumours.    

President Peter Mutharika is also set to visit the bloodsuckers hotspots in Mulanje, Phalombe and Chiradzulu beginning this weekend.