Police in Chitipa on Saturday reunited a nine-month-old baby boy with his Tanzanian mother after he was earlier declared missing.

Chitipa Police Station assistant spokesperson Matthews Mfune said the mother reported about her missing child to Mbozi Police Station in Tanzania on March 8 2026 and later, the same day, a certain woman took the baby to Chitipa Police Station in Malawi, claiming to have found him at Bangamoyo Graveyard in Chitipa District.

Chitipa district probation officer Humphreys Mwalughali (L) hands over the baby to his mother. I Jordan Simeon-Phiri

He said: “The child was placed under the care of Chitipa District Social Welfare and taken to Chitipa District Hospital for a medical check-up, which confirmed that he was healthy.

“On March 13 2026, officers at Ilomba Border Post in Chitipa informed Chitipa Police Station that Tanzanian Police had received a report of a missing child which matched with descriptions provided by the mother and Tanzanian authorities.”

Mfune said Chitipa district commissioner Charles Mhone held a meeting between Tanzanian police represented by Ileje Police Station officer-in-charge Philipo Philipo Bula and their Malawian counterparts.

To legally formalise the process, court proceedings were held before first grade magistrate Billy Ngosi where State witnesses Brian Hawire of Chitipa Police and Philipo Bula confirmed the child’s identity.

Chitipa Police Station officer Malakani M’bwana said investigations showed the baby belonged to the mother