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On Security Lapses and Acquaintances
By Goodwell Kaipa, Malawi
On Security Lapses and Acquaintances
by Goodwell Kaipa, Malawi
People are being found on roadsides with wounds, deadly wounds. Their valuables, such as phones and laptops, are stolen. On a bad day, you hear and read of innocent people being killed by thugs. Or buried alive because they are accused of practicing witchcraft. We are living in a society where our security is constantly threatened. We are all not safe. We are all living in a society that is a threat to itself!
Daughters are being raped by their own fathers. Sons are killing their fathers because of disagreements; be it land disputes or other mundane random disputes. Anyone, including your own family and friends, can inflict pain on you. After all, Jesus was betrayed not by a stranger but by his own disciple, dovetailing the fact that he who we call a friend may in actuality be an enemy, a albeit a fiend with shimmering colours.
You can't trust any soul. Many people have lost their lives because they got attacked by their own friends or family members. That's the present reality of the world for you. The world, this sweet brutal world, is not and will never be a friendly place. Joseph, the biblical Joseph, was even sent into captivity by his own blood brothers. We can never be safe if the institution of the family is not a safe place. Charity begins at home, so they say. The inverse of that statement is also true.
What I am trying to say is that some of the violent crimes we are reading in the newspapers, or even hearing on the radio, are perpetrated by acquaintances of the victims themselves. A stranger can't come from the blues just to attack a motorcycle owner coming from a drinking spree. The owner of the house can't just die mysteriously. An autopsy will always reveal the truth if death was caused by poisoning. People can't just wake up and gang around an elderly person, accusing her of witchcraft and then dragging her to the graveyard to bury her alive. Her immediate family members will be the Judases who gave her away.
We all are living in a society where our friends and families will be the first harbouring ill-wills. Think about it. Are we living in a society where friends and family will be quick to put the last nail in our coffin?