•witchdoctors have been identified as being responsible for the killings and
harvesting of body parts
By AUSTIN KALUBA –
They are remnants of negative traditional African norms that refuse to die even in the face of modernity that has ushered in a well-defined religion, science and technology.
These are witch doctors who are still revered as healers who treated ailments largely believed to be caused by witchcraft.
However, it is this very connection to witchcraft that blurs their role making it difficult to differentiate them from sorcerers, the latter who cause harm.
They go by innocent names like ‘traditional healers’ ‘Sangomas’ ‘medicine men’ ‘Ng’angas’ or even ‘traditional doctors.’
The apt title for these ilk is ‘witchdoctor’ (mark the prefix witch) though many resist this label preferring to be addressed as ‘healers’ or even ‘doctor.’
Now these agents of the devil are being linked to ritual killings, defilement, instant justice murder and witchcraft. Their role is now understood as being closer to that of sorcerers whom they claim to fight than to healers.
Recently, a traditional leader called on the government to repeal and harmonise the Witchcraft Act arguing that the vice is still in practiced widely in rural areas.
Chief Nkole Mfumu of Kasama made the appeal when the then Northern Province Minister Obius Chisala paid a courtesy call at his palace.
The chief said people were taking advantage of the current porous laws on witchcraft to practice sorcery and threatening people.
“Even chiefs are not spared. We are appealing to Government to solidify the Act on witchcraft and those convicted should be jailed,” Chief Nkole Mfumu said.
Mr Chisala in response said the belief in witchcraft was detrimental to development as it scared people with potential to develop rural areas.
However, while the Zambian government is still dilly dallying on repealing the ambiguous witchcraft act, other countries have already taken action to cage witchdoctors.
The government of Tanzania recently banned witch doctors due to their connection to ritual killings of albinos who were being killed for their body parts.
The government aptly fingered witch doctors as fuelling the killings by inducing local people to believe “magic potions” made from body parts brought good luck and wealth.
Religious leaders also welcomed the move but warned that a blanket ban could affect access to traditional medicine offered by healers and herbalists.
Now the leaders are calling for a new approach, even as the government back tracked and clarified that it was targeting cheats.
Reverend Leonard Mtaita, a retired general secretary of the Christian Council in Tanzania charged that several people including senior politicians and some members of the clergy visited witch doctors.
The general public, outraged at the killing of albinos called on the government to ban all witchdoctors since it is impossible to make a difference between a genuine witchdoctor and a quac.Even in developed societies like South Africa where the country is struggling to be seen as a progressive player on the world stage, much of its culture remains rooted in the past complete with belief in witchdoctors.
Perhaps the most horrific evidence of this is the continuing kidnapping and murder of children so that their body parts can be used in traditional medicine.
Like in the Zambian case, witchdoctors popularly known as Sangomas have been identified as being responsible for the killings and harvesting of body parts.
It is in view of this that the witchcraft act drafted in colonial Zambia needs massive amendment if it has to serve any purpose. The Act has so many loop holes that can lead to witchdoctors getting away despite their link to ritual killings, defilement and accusations of others as practicing witchcraft.
Media stories abound of witchdoctors promising people who seek their services with reward if they obtain human organs through ritual killings or sleep with under-age girls.
Recently, ritual murderers struck once more by killing Robson Chisanga, a 24 year old care taker in Kitwe and forked out his heart and tongue in a story that shocked the nation.
One also remembers the sad story of Ruth Mbandu, the poor young girl who was ritually murdered in Emmasdale Lusaka.
The practice of ritual killing and human sacrifice continues to take place in several African countries in contravention of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and other human rights instruments.
Apart from being linked with ritual murders, several gender NGOs in Africa have now lumped witchdoctors as being responsible for the escalating number of defilements.
The Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) Executive Director, Pukuta Mwanza, recently said the escalating cases of was partially as a result of witchdoctors.
The advice to the Zambian government is for it to launch a crackdown on witchdoctors who are behind several ritual murders and defilement cases by misleading people that they can get whatever they want if they engage in these practises.
When some colonial masters banned witchdoctors, many people thought the foreigners were racists. Now in independent Africa, there is enough evidence that our colleagues in bizarre attire who claim to cure all diseases (including diseases they cannot diagnose) are up to no good.
