Child Sacrifices on the Rise in Uganda as Witch Doctors Expand Their Practices
8th January 2010 · 7 Comments · By Ahmed M Kamara
Witch Doctors and Their Human Sacrifices
Human sacrifice is on the increase in Uganda according to a government spokesman. This barbaric crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly. Witch doctors claim they have clients who regularly capture children and bring their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits. One witch doctor confessed for the first time to having murdered about 70 people, including his own son.
According to media reports, the witch doctors revealed that some of their clients capture other people’s children and bring the heart and the blood directly to them to take to the spirits. They are brought in small tins and are placed under a tree from which the voices of the spirits are coming. Clients come on average three times a week, with all that the spirits asks them to bring. The witch-doctors deny any direct involvement in murder or incitement to murder. They claim that spirits speak directly to their clients.
Witch doctors are paid about 500,000 Ugandan shillings, equivalent of about $260 for a consultation. The head of the Anti-Human Sacrifice and Trafficking Task Force in Uganda, assistant commissioner Moses Binoga of the Ugandan police, said that witch doctors operate in a network and have bosses who give instructions and receive the bulk of payment made by clients. The bosses involve in one of five or six witch-doctor protection rackets operating in the country.
The Assistant commissioner went on to say that the senior ones extort money from lower people because they deal in illegal things. He said that police had opened 26 murder cases in 2009, in which the victim appeared to have been ritually sacrificed, compared with just three cases in 2007. He also said that they have about 120 children and adults reported missing whose fate they have been unable to trace. They cannot rule out that they may be victims of human sacrifice, he said. Child protection campaigners in the country believe the real number is much higher, as some disappearances are not reported to the police.
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
© 2010, Ahmed M Kamara. All rights reserved.
Tags: Child Sacrifices, Uganda, Witch Doctors
[...] been unable to trace. They cannot rule out that they may be victims of human sacrifice, he said. Child Sacrifices on the Rise in Uganda as Witch Doctors Expand Their Practices | Newstime Africa We can see a pattern here that is common to many religions. A persuasive and charismatic charlatan [...]
[...] original : Child Sacrifices on the Rise in [...]
[...] Newstime Africa reports that a Ugandan government official has acknowledged that child sacrifices have been on the rise. Where we normally see these sorts of extreme tactics negatively correlated with welfare, we see the opposite in this case: because the sacrifice of children is supposed to lead to greater financial success, those who are doing well personally are even more committed to sacrificing children as, by their view, they’re receiving confirming evidence. Human sacrifice is on the increase in Uganda according to a government spokesman. This barbaric crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly. Witch doctors claim they have clients who regularly capture children and bring their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits. One witch doctor confessed for the first time to having murdered about 70 people, including his own son. [...]
Good article. Human sacrice is commoner than we acknowledge. At least a Ugandan official has admitted that child sacrifice is on the rise in his country. He should be commended for doing that. Most African leaders have decided to ignore this trend, which is very sad indeed. The fact that it is increasing with “prosperity and development” affirms what I have been saying for months: Africans are getting more mentally ill as they acquire more protein in the diet because of pellagra (see the article on “the middle-class curse” on my TIG blog, which is linked to my webcite.
Africa’s leaders need to be encouraged to go a step further and do the right thing for their people.
There is a
[...] Newstime Africa reports that a Ugandan government official has acknowledged that child sacrifices have been on the rise. Where we normally see these sorts of extreme tactics negatively correlated with welfare, we see the opposite in this case: because the sacrifice of children is supposed to lead to greater financial success, those who are doing well personally are even more committed to sacrificing children as, by their view, they’re receiving confirming evidence. Human sacrifice is on the increase in Uganda according to a government spokesman. This barbaric crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly. Witch doctors claim they have clients who regularly capture children and bring their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits. One witch doctor confessed for the first time to having murdered about 70 people, including his own son. [...]
[...] Here is a prime example of how superstitious thinking can cause real harm to the innocent. Child Sacrifices on the Rise in Uganda as Witch Doctors Expand Their Practices | Newstime Africa We can see a pattern here that is common to many religions. A persuasive and charismatic charlatan [...]
This reminds me of something I read in the 1974 “Guinness Book of World Records”:
” ‘Smelling Out.’ The greatest ‘smelling out’ (ritualistic execution) recorded in African history occurred before Shaka (chief of the Zulu tribes, 1787-1828) and 30,000 of his subjects near the Umhlatuzana River, Zululand (now Natal, South Africa) in March, 1824. After 9 hours, 300 were ‘smelt out’ as guilty of smearing the Royal Kraal with blood. Their ‘discoverers’ were 150 witchfinders led by the hideous female isangoma Nobela. The victims were declared innocent when Shaka admitted to having the smearing done himself to expose the falsity of the power of his diviners. Nobela poisoned herself with atropine…, but the other 149 witchfinders were thereupon skewered or clubbed to death.”
- – -
It’s time for another “smelling out,” minus the skewering and clubbing, of course.