BLANTYRE, Dec 23 (AFP) - Malawi President Bakili Muluzi has dismissed allegations that his government is collaborating with international aid organisations to take blood from famished villagers in exchange for food.
"No government can go about sucking the blood of its people. That is thuggery," Muluzi told a press conference at the weekend.
Muluzi accused the opposition of "cooking up" rumours circulating in the tea-growing districts of Thyolo and Mulanje in southern Malawi that the government and unnamed donor organisations are bartering relief maize for blood.
More than three million of Malawi's 11 million people are currently in need of food aid due to crop failures.
"They (opposition leaders) want to scare you so that you don't concentrate on your gardens," Muluzi charged.
"After all with HIV/AIDS, who could be sure of the safety of such blood?"
Around 14 percent of Malawians are infected with HIV.
Three Roman Catholic priests were a fortnight ago attacked and held hostage overnight by villagers who suspected they were visiting their area in search of blood.
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