GAWA UNDI CONDEMNS NYAU DANCERS’ CAPTURE OF 2 GIRLS

By NATION REPORTER PARAMOUNT Chief Kalonga Gawa Undi of the Chewa speaking people in Eastern Province is very disappointed and disgusted with what happened, his spokesperson Lucas Phiri has disclosed.

In an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Phiri said the Chief was yearning to see to it that the culprits are brought to book.

Last week suspected Nyau dancers in Chief Mafuta’s area in Chipata abducted two schoolgirls whom they kept for two days prompting Chief Chanje of Chipata to declare that the act was against the Chewa tradition, adding that Paramount Chief Kalonga Gawa Udi did not support unlawful behaviour. The two girls, one aged 15 and in Grade 8, and the other 13 and in Grade 5, were forcefully taken by the Nyau dancers at Msakanya village.

The father of one of the girls, Saidi Chirwa, said the girls were taken against their will to Dambwe, a secret Nyau place. In an interview yesterday, Mr Phiri Gawa Undi’s stance on the matter was that Gule-wa-Mkulu, a traditional Nyau dance, should not be used for personal vengeance but entertainment. “He has told his subordinate chiefs never to use Gule-wa-Mkulu to block roads going to school, or clinics. He has made sure that Gule-wa-Mkulu must never be used for such purposes with regard of what transpired in Mafuta chiefdom and he has emphasized strongly that government should act firmly and arrest all the culprits involved,” he said.

The Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA) has since wondered whether or not there was a Zambian version of Boko Haram in Nyau dancers where children were being abducted in broad daylight by male adults.

Reacting to the abduction, Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA) executive director Judith Mulenga stated that what happened was indicative of the breakdown of law and order in Zambia.

The adolescents were, however, reportedly retrieved on Monday evening.