Albino SoS: Ban witchcraft now!

When Tanzania banned witchdoctors last week to curb the killing of albinos, memories of Robinson Mukwana, a Kenyan who was lured to Tanzania on the promise of a job only to be presented to willing buyers, lingered.

While the attempt to sell him did not succeed, there was fury that the trade in human parts was thriving.

Now members of the Albinism Society of Kenya (ASK) have urged the government to emulate Tanzania and ban witchcraft.

Without quick action from the government and strict laws in place, ASK national coordinator Isaac Mwaura, who is also a nominated MP, said Kenya could become a safe haven for witchdoctors after the Tanzania ban.

“We welcome the move by Tanzania to ban witchcraft because the killings there have been alarming. But there is also a high possibility of Kenya becoming the next catchment area without proper laws in place,” he said.

“We actually need an East African law on this menace because these killings have become regional.”

Tanzanian witchdoctors, some of whom are suspected by authorities in their country of abducting and killing albinos for their rituals, at times cross the border and advertise their services in Kenya.

Nominated member of the Bungoma County Assembly Martin Pepela and a member of ASK also said there was an urgent need for the government to protect the country’s borders, in addition to formulating stringent laws on witchcraft.

“As a country, we haven’t had cases of killings of people with albinism, but there have been kidnappings like that of Robinson Mukhwana. Unfortunately, we do not have any mechanism in place to deal with the menace. It is now high time we did that to prevent these criminals crossing into Kenya to carry out abductions,” Mr Pepela said.

SELL HIM TO RITUAL KILLERS

Mr Mukhwana was rescued in 2010 from human traffickers who wanted to sell him to witchdoctors in Tanzania for ritual killings. The culprit, Nathan Mutei, was handed a jail term of 17 years and a fine of $850,000 (Sh77.6 million).

According to Mr Mwaura, given that Kenya is in the process of amending the Disability Act, lawmakers should consider including mechanisms to protect the Kenyan albino community by banning witchdoctors as Tanzania did.

Mr Mwaura said he had made recommendations for inclusion in amendments and urged the National Assembly, particularly his Cord coalition members, to support them. The nominated MP said the kidnappings and killings should be viewed as human rights violations.

“Unfortunately, Tanzania for a long time has failed to report these killings to the UN,” he said.

Tanzania last week banned witchdoctors in an effort to stem the increase of the killing of people with albinism for their body parts which some believe bring good fortune and wealth. The killings peaked in Tanzania in 2009, forcing the government to place children with albinism in special homes to protect them from kidnap pers.

An estimated 74 people with albinism have been killed for their body parts in Tanzania since 2000.

“The killings just go to demonstrate the kind of prejudice people with albinism face. We, therefore, need social programmes to sensitise the country about the condition,” Mr Mwaura said.

Albinism is a rare hereditary genetic condition that causes an absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes. Worldwide, it is estimated that it affects approximately one in 20,000 people, with the majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa mainly because of consanguinity (same ancestry).

Kidnappings of people with albinism have also been reported in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Swaziland.