People resort to witchdoctors to catch rampaging robbers
Nov 26, 2010
THE Police in Buikwe said people are flocking to their offices looking for the phone contacts of a witchdoctor who allegedly catches thieves using charms.
By John Semakula
THE Police in Buikwe said people are flocking to their offices looking for the phone contacts of a witchdoctor who allegedly catches thieves using charms.
When thieves stole two cows from Sam Mucwa of Kidokolo village, Najja sub-county, Buikwe district, he brought in a witchdoctor, Peter Ojwang (pictured below) from Tororo.
Minutes after applying Ojwang’s concoctions, Mucwa’s villagemates Richard Ndugu and Kalid Twase started walking on their hands and knees and eating grass. “These are the ones who stole the cows,†Ojwang said.
Residents took the men to Lugazi Police Station. Buikwe district CID chief, Henry Ayebare, said the suspects were taken to court, charged with theft and then remanded. He said the men were charged on the basis of testimonies from the villagers and not on the witchdoctor’s word.
Nevertheless, word spread like wildfire that the witchdoctor had performed a miracle. People started flocking the Police station for the witchdoctor’s contacts and the Police turned them away.
“It is unfortunate that many people choose to consult witchdoctors, after losing their property,†Ayebare said.
But a shopkeeper who was robbed in Seeta said he had no time to “waste†with Police. He consulted a witchdoctor and on the same day, the suspects came confessing. “When they came, they looked possessed and narrated how they stole the iron bars. They had already sold them and used up the money but before I cured them, they promised to pay back,†said the man, who preferred anonymity for the sake of his business.
Ayebare said there was no need to go to witchdoctors because the Police have the ability to catch thieves. “The problem is that the public does not cooperate. People fear to give us evidence pinning the suspects. That is why we have found it hard to fight some of the crimes.â€
He added that there is no law under which a witchdoctor, using charms, can arrest suspects. Some of the suspects’ relatives, he said, were planning to sue witchdoctors for poisoning their people.
A case in point is the death of David Semakula, 28, in Mabuye, Kyampisi sub-county, Mukono district. A man had hired a witchdoctor, Julius Okoth, to arrest thieves who had stolen 20 bunches of his matooke. Villagers gathered in the banana plantation to witness the ‘miracle’. “If anyone of you stole the bananas, please confess before it is too late,†Okoth urged. Everyone kept quiet.
Okoth then crashed cassava leaves and mixed them with other herbs in a mineral water bottle. He then urged all those present to sip the liquid to prove their innocence. “This is the last warning. If you have stolen the matooke and you sip this liquid you might die,†he warned.
The villagers sipped the concoction. Minutes later, three men started crawling like lizards and eating grass. David Semakula, 28, Edward Sseruwagi, 39 and one Kizito were casual labourers in the village.
The witchdoctor then packed his bags and left, saying only the plantation owner had the antidote. The owner asked for sh3.5m to give them the antidote. The men’s families could not raise the money.
At 7:00pm, seven hours after administering the concoction, Semakula died. Before dying, he told his father Fred Ssazi that he had found Kizito and Seruwagi loading two sacks of matooke on a motorcycle and helped them. “My son was not a thief. He told me he didn’t know the matooke was stolen. I expected my son to look after me in old age but now he is gone,†Ssazi said.
Kizito was taken to another witchdoctor for cure. The third one, Sseruwagi, regained consciousness after three days and insisted that he did not steal the matooke, so he would not give any money for the antidote. “I have never stolen anything and I am ready to die. The witchdoctor said if you got a coin from the person who stole the bananas, you could also become a victim. This may be the reason I am suffering,†he said.
The Mukono district Police commander, Aliphonse Musoni, admitted that some people prefer traditional healers because they think they can get an immediate solution to their problems than going to the Police, which has to investigate first before taking any other step.
“We have so many health centers but many patients ignore them and go to shrines. This is the same way they ignore the Police and consult healers its not that we are weak,†Musoni said.
But people who go to the healers argue that it is more beneficial than reporting to Police because you recover your property immediately. They argue that Police takes a lot of time investigating and it costs a lot of money, yet the healers take just minutes.
THE Police in Buikwe said people are flocking to their offices looking for the phone contacts of a witchdoctor who allegedly catches thieves using charms.
When thieves stole two cows from Sam Mucwa of Kidokolo village, Najja sub-county, Buikwe district, he brought in a witchdoctor, Peter Ojwang (pictured below) from Tororo.
Minutes after applying Ojwang’s concoctions, Mucwa’s villagemates Richard Ndugu and Kalid Twase started walking on their hands and knees and eating grass. “These are the ones who stole the cows,†Ojwang said.
Residents took the men to Lugazi Police Station. Buikwe district CID chief, Henry Ayebare, said the suspects were taken to court, charged with theft and then remanded. He said the men were charged on the basis of testimonies from the villagers and not on the witchdoctor’s word.
Nevertheless, word spread like wildfire that the witchdoctor had performed a miracle. People started flocking the Police station for the witchdoctor’s contacts and the Police turned them away.
“It is unfortunate that many people choose to consult witchdoctors, after losing their property,†Ayebare said.
But a shopkeeper who was robbed in Seeta said he had no time to “waste†with Police. He consulted a witchdoctor and on the same day, the suspects came confessing. “When they came, they looked possessed and narrated how they stole the iron bars. They had already sold them and used up the money but before I cured them, they promised to pay back,†said the man, who preferred anonymity for the sake of his business.
Ayebare said there was no need to go to witchdoctors because the Police have the ability to catch thieves. “The problem is that the public does not cooperate. People fear to give us evidence pinning the suspects. That is why we have found it hard to fight some of the crimes.â€
He added that there is no law under which a witchdoctor, using charms, can arrest suspects. Some of the suspects’ relatives, he said, were planning to sue witchdoctors for poisoning their people.
A case in point is the death of David Semakula, 28, in Mabuye, Kyampisi sub-county, Mukono district. A man had hired a witchdoctor, Julius Okoth, to arrest thieves who had stolen 20 bunches of his matooke. Villagers gathered in the banana plantation to witness the ‘miracle’. “If anyone of you stole the bananas, please confess before it is too late,†Okoth urged. Everyone kept quiet.
Okoth then crashed cassava leaves and mixed them with other herbs in a mineral water bottle. He then urged all those present to sip the liquid to prove their innocence. “This is the last warning. If you have stolen the matooke and you sip this liquid you might die,†he warned.
The villagers sipped the concoction. Minutes later, three men started crawling like lizards and eating grass. David Semakula, 28, Edward Sseruwagi, 39 and one Kizito were casual labourers in the village.
The witchdoctor then packed his bags and left, saying only the plantation owner had the antidote. The owner asked for sh3.5m to give them the antidote. The men’s families could not raise the money.
At 7:00pm, seven hours after administering the concoction, Semakula died. Before dying, he told his father Fred Ssazi that he had found Kizito and Seruwagi loading two sacks of matooke on a motorcycle and helped them. “My son was not a thief. He told me he didn’t know the matooke was stolen. I expected my son to look after me in old age but now he is gone,†Ssazi said.
Kizito was taken to another witchdoctor for cure. The third one, Sseruwagi, regained consciousness after three days and insisted that he did not steal the matooke, so he would not give any money for the antidote. “I have never stolen anything and I am ready to die. The witchdoctor said if you got a coin from the person who stole the bananas, you could also become a victim. This may be the reason I am suffering,†he said.
The Mukono district Police commander, Aliphonse Musoni, admitted that some people prefer traditional healers because they think they can get an immediate solution to their problems than going to the Police, which has to investigate first before taking any other step.
“We have so many health centers but many patients ignore them and go to shrines. This is the same way they ignore the Police and consult healers its not that we are weak,†Musoni said.
But people who go to the healers argue that it is more beneficial than reporting to Police because you recover your property immediately. They argue that Police takes a lot of time investigating and it costs a lot of money, yet the healers take just minutes.