Politics and Society
Tanzania bans “witchdoctors” to end albino murders
The government of Tanzania has banned witchdoctors in the country in a bid to protect albino people and stop attacks on them
The government of Tanzania has banned witchdoctors in the country in a bid to protect albino people and stop attacks on them
Published
10 years agoon
The ban on witchdoctors was announced by Mathias Chikawe, the Home Affairs minister, who said that if they continued to work, there would be a nationwide operation to prosecute them.
Witchdoctors in Tanzania and a few other African countries believe that body parts of albino people – who lack pigment in their skin – bring wealth and good luck. In the past three years, 70 albino people have been killed, but only 10 convictions have happened. There are over 33,000 albino people in Tanzania.
Ernest Njamakimaya, the chairman of the Tanzanian Albinism Society (TAS) says with cooperation between them and the government, “we can get rid of these incidents once and for all.”
The ban has emerged from the work of a special joint task force between police and the TAS.
Source: BBC
Kenya: police killings point to systemic rot and a failed justice system
‘Gutter water’, ‘monkey tail’ and smoked faeces: new dangers on Nigeria’s drug scene
Renewable energy by force: Does the West have any moral high ground to interfere in Uganda and Tanzania’s oil and gas development projects?
East African footballers are a rarity on the global stage: we analysed why
Kenya’s election: institutional safeguards are still a work in progress
Passport privilege and Visa apartheid: Africans as unwanted visitors in Europe and America