A young boy named Precious Zamani was caught stealing maize in a field in Salima District, Malawi.
He was forced to eat the raw maize as a punishment.
A video of the incident went viral, shocking many on social media, Precious is a second-grade student who hasn’t attended school since 2023 due to various challenges.
He comes from a family of four, and his biological father abandoned the family soon after he was born.
Precious stole the maize for his mother, who has a disability, and they had gone days without food.
Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, a wealthy Malawian preacher, bought clothes and other items for the boy and promised to send him to school.
He urged everyone in the country to love children and avoid abusing them Bushiri has since committed himself to helping Precious with his education going forward and hopes he can lead a happy life despite his difficult past.
Gerald Kampanikiza, a social media content creator, saw the video, followed up in Salima, and asked others to volunteer and assist.
𝐆𝐎𝐃’𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃
Two days ago, people on social media were shocked by a story of a young boy by the name of Precious who was abused after being caught stealing maize in one of the fields in Salima District.
Precious Zamani was an STD 2 learner but last went to school in 2023 because of the different challenges he went through.
He is from a family of four, and his biological father abandoned the family soon after he was born.
It is the right of every child to grow up with all the parents close, but his mother, who is physically challenged, took another step in life as she was married to another man, and they have 3 kids together with the current husband.
Unfortunately, the stepfather Precious doesn’t want to see Precious close, and the mother is not allowed to provide any food to the young innocent boy.
A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly. The loving mother always makes sure that she prepares some food secretly and hides it for the son despite all the threats from the husband because Precious, despite facing that situation, is the one who provides food to the family.
The question may be: how does he provide food to the family considering how young he is?
Precious usually goes to the forest to fetch firewood and burn charcoal for sale around their area, and he uses the money to buy food for his mother and siblings. Unfortunately, even if he provides food, he is not allowed to be part of his family when it comes to eating time with the stepfather.
He works in the fields of people during this growing season as a watchman against baboons that usually eat maize.
On the material day, when he was beaten and forced to eat the fresh maize, he went to the owner of the maize garden to ask for an advance payment so that he could buy a pack of maize flour (okomani) after going to bed for two days without eating any food.
The boss didn’t provide the money to the young boy, and on his way back after running out of ideas, he had no other option but to go to the maize field itself, not to sell it but to save himself from hunger, as he nearly collapsed of hunger.
If you look at the video for him, the boy was hungry, and eating the fresh maize was not a punishment to him but for his survival, though those doing it thought they were punishing the young boy.
After we posted the story on the page, we received a call from prophet Shephered bushiri who was deeply concerned with what happened to see the boy going through all that, and he requested us to look for the boy and bring him to his house in Lilongwe.
With the help of Salima District Social Welfare Officer, Mr Edgar Kasiyafumbi, we found Precious and his mother at Mr Kasiyafumbi’s office under the assistance of Salima Police.
On Monday, Precious and his mother had dinner with Prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s family in Area 43 and soon after the dinner, they were taken to a lodge.
On Tuesday, the two had an opportunity to go shopping with Major 1 with Precious eager to return to school as soon as it can happen..
Speaking to the media at Pep stores in Lilongwe, Bushiri said Precious has a pathetic story and he knows what it means because he has passed through a poor background as well.
“He deserves some comfort to know that there are people who can support him in his life,” Bushiri said.
He further committed himself to helping the young boy with his education from now on.
“We want him to be assured that he can live a happy life just like any other kid regardless of what he passed through,” he indicated.
