Tanzania: sorcery is over

The UNO brought out overwhelming figures. More than 70 albinos have been killed since 2000 in Tanzania. A number even stronger when we know that community is a minority within the country. Albinism is a genetic particularity which depigments the skin and hits only a few persons. The government measure to forbid sorcery is, therefore, particularly welcomed to try to stop this phenomenon, because it is the first cause of death of albino people. The wizards consider that those men are “different” because of their physical appearance and have supernatural powers. They think their organs have psychic capacities and pretend they can give happiness and prosperity to the person possessing it. It is the same as rhinoceros’ horns in China, which are considered as lucky charms. 

The burden is huge and the poaching is growing, as the demand is present. In Tanzania, the problem is quite similar. The wizards teach the youngest generations, telling them albinos have extraordinary powers, so the trafficking keeps going. 

“We want to get over with the murders of albinos”, formally stated the Minister of Internal Affairs Mathias Chikawe. To forbid sorcery is actually and implicitly stemming the killing of albinos. Because if the wizards would not practice these exactions, there would be no problem. This is why the government decided to act in order to stop this dramatic movement for the country. To do so, it also wishes to establish a vast communication operation through Tanzania. The objective is to inform the population albinism has no psychic characteristics in particular, and that this particularity is only genetic. The communication has to be broadcasted at a large scale, to eliminate the false ideas spread by the healers. “We are against those who are misleading the population by telling them they would magically become rich, against the fortune-tellers and all those distributing talismans”, commented the Minister.

On the 27th of December 2014, Pendo, a 4-year-old young girl, was kidnapped by men armed with machetes. She is still missing. Today, we estimate she probably was abducted by “wizards”. Fifteen people were arrested, including the father of the girl gone missing. A reward will be offered to whoever finds her. This case affected the authorities, and the government accelerated the procedures to finally forbid sorcery. This decision took time to be established, because of the wizards’ lobbies at a political scale. Politics sometimes receive financial support from this population to be elected. 

Another burden that also comes from the beliefs and superstitions of the country is the massacre of the so-called “witches”. 765 women were killed according to local estimations, all of them for their ostensible supernatural powers. An imprecise figure that could still go up. “This huge number of killed people only accounts for the reported cases”, relates Paul Mikongoti, member of the NGO Legal and Human Rights Center. In Tanzania, more than 90% of the population believes in magic. Killers make women they assassinate believe they are witches, and that they are capable of mesmerizing animals. Another criteria used is to have bloodshot eyes. Science allows us to know elderly living in rural zones have bloodshot eyes genetically, which explains why they are the most hit by the killings of the putative “witches”. And being a witch in Tanzania does not augur anything else than being pursued to death. The murders are extremely violent and the aggressions oscillate between burns and other mutilations.  

Another burden that also comes from the beliefs and superstitions of the country is the massacre of the so-called “witches”. 765 women were killed according to local estimations, all of them for their ostensible supernatural powers. An imprecise figure that could still go up. “This huge number of killed people only accounts for the reported cases”, relates Paul Mikongoti, member of the NGO Legal and Human Rights Center. In Tanzania, more than 90% of the population believes in magic. Killers make women they assassinate believe they are witches, and that they are capable of mesmerizing animals. Another criteria used is to have bloodshot eyes. Science allows us to know elderly living in rural zones have bloodshot eyes genetically, which explains why they are the most hit by the killings of the putative “witches”. And being a witch in Tanzania does not augur anything else than being pursued to death. The murders are extremely violent and the aggressions oscillate between burns and other mutilations.  
 

What makes it hard for the authorities is all the “economy” linked to this traffic. As for drugs or animals, the organ trafficking of albinos involves huge amounts of money to the sellers. Tragic figures were unveiled. The healers buy limbs around 600 dollars, and a whole body of the victim costs around 60, 000 dollars. This data is scary; it shows that trafficking is organized and that it has been existing for a long time. Therefore, the authorities have started hostilities against this business with this new law, but there is still a lot of work to do to entirely stop this activity, not very well known but grave yet.