Mali: Salif Keita cries for albinos

  1. Posted on Monday 12 January 2009 - 15:49
    KingsleyKobo
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    Kingsley Kobo, AfricanNews reporter in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire Photo: Africansounds
    Famous Malian albino singer, Salif Keita has cried out to those killing albinos to "stop marginalizing albinos."
    Salif Keita Photo: Africansounds
    Speaking during an enlightenment forum organized recently in Bamako, Keita said the rate at which albinos are being marginalized in schools, hospitals, buses and supermarkets is reaching alarming proportion.

    He organised the highly-publicized forum meant to sensitize the Malian population about the social agonies albinos are confronting in the country and the need to address the situation.

    “They say we stink, they say we’re evil. Nobody wants to see us, nobody wants to touch us. No parent would give out her daughter to you in marriage. And no girl would want to go out with you,” Keita stressed.

    A communiqué issued at the end of the forum appealed to the entire Malian population to accept albinos and consider them as human beings. The musical theme sang by Keita himself reads “The difference in our skin colour is the richness of our heritage.”

    The forum also included a fund-raising session meant to build a special hospital for the treatment of albinos, since regular doctors and nurses in public hospitals are not comfortable with them. A total amount of 49,856,000 million cfa (76,000 euro) was raised.

    Albinism is a form of hypopigmentary congenital disorder characterized by a partial or total lack of melanin pigment in the eyes, skin and hair. Albinism results from inheritance of recessive alleles.

    In the past, albinos were killed at birth in Mali and in some other African countries they were used for rituals. Seven albino youths were reportedly strangled in Mali recently.

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