We should have zero tolerance for child sacrifice
Jan 13, 2009
I must thank the President and some Church leaders who have come out and demanded capital punishment for those involved in the human sacrifice of our children.
By Semakula Kiwanuka
I must thank the President and some Church leaders who have come out and demanded capital punishment for those involved in the human sacrifice of our children. I thank the press which has exposed these heinous crimes, telling us that many of the huge buildings we see are built on the bones of the sacrificed children and sprinkled with the blood of the innocent.
I also thank the Inspector General of Police, General Kale Kaihura who as the chief law enforcer, has responded to the scourge decisively by arresting the business tycoon Kato Kajubi. However, inspite of this arrest, Ugandans are skeptical because Kato Kajubi is not the first. Very many others are as free as a bird and Kajubi’s case is reportedly being heard in camera.
I must be one of many Ugandans who have waited for the recent huge expression of a collective moral outrage against the barbaric and primitive acts by the rich and the politically powerful who in a callous pursuance of their diabolic ambitions shamelessly patronise the witchdoctors, publicly parade themselves in the shrines to the stunned silence and sometimes admiration of Ugandans.
Uganda is a country of contradictions because one notices a massive display of religiosity whereby churches and mosques overflow with worshipers. Take the mushrooming of the new churches and religions. In the old days religious revivals signaled a return to the morals and values which had been eroded. Unfortunately, this is the opposite in Uganda because the level of immorality in some of these organisations is almost diabolic.
These very same people who as in the case of Christians go to Holy Communion every Sunday are the biggest patrons of witchcraft and the shrine bosses. For many Ugandans including some religious leaders there is no moral contradiction in all this as long generous donations keep flowing. Sadly we have for several years seen this evil cancer spreading and actively eating away the moral fabric of the nation. Because of the extensive erosion of the moral fibre and basic religious values, Uganda is witnessing a massive resurgency of and the popularity of witchcraft, witchdoctors and the shrine bosses as well as human sacrifice. All this is in the name of African culture.
Such an extraordinary reversal of values can be measured by the patronage enjoyed by the witchdoctors and their shrines.
There is enough evidence to prove that it is in such shrines that the majority of sacrifices of innocent children is planned and executed.
It is equally important to recognise that there is a very thin line between those who ruthlessly pursue political power and those who ruthlessly search for riches. They are both the patrons of the shrine bosses and it is the patronage of the rich which sustains the supply side which is provided by the shrine bosses. Evidence of the moral decadence is how those who arrive with the help of human sacrifice are cheered and congratulated for their smartness and success. Unfortunately, in today’s Uganda these are the role models for the young generation who also aspire to acquire the same political power and wealth.
Demand and supply
The sustainability of these heinous crimes has a demand and supply side because the scarifying of children cannot thrive without the shrine bosses. They too cannot thrive without the patronage of those who believe that power and money need human sacrifices to be got and retained. The Government cannot root out this cancer without recognising that the increase in child sacrifices is the result of a sustained demand.
The audacious patronage enjoyed by the witchdoctors has emboldened these shrine bosses to fear nothing not even the law because none of them has been hanged for their crimes. What we mean by the supply side is the infrastructure of witchcraft as a profession or business plus the witchdoctors and their shrines.
The demand side has no obvious infrastructure because the majority of them, seldom parade themselves and for that reason the Government may find it difficult to launch a frontal attack on them.
However even if the supply side infrastructure is destroyed or it is made difficult to operate, even if expressions of moral outrage is sustained, these by themselves will not be enough to deter the demand side because the hankering for power and wealth are overwhelming. Let us face it. There is a very thin line between the business tycoon who buy children’s tongues and gorged out eyes and the politicians. Both seek the same power and wealth and the means to acquire these is by the witchdoctors.
For too long these rich and politically powerful have as the saying goes, got away with murder. Not too long ago, in Natete, the press reported about those who were involved in the sacrifice of a small boy. But there has never been a single court conviction. And yet petty thieves are killed by the mob for stealing a few tubers of cassava or a chicken. Because the courts will not convict those with money and political power, I can foresee a problem unless as the President suggested, these murderers are dealt with by firing squad.
We have watched the continuing erosion of Uganda’s moral fibre as exemplified by the absence of court conviction of the numerous barbaric acts which include pouring acid on people. I equate such acts with murder or attempted murder. We see men and women who have been permanently maimed and disfigured for life by acid action if they are lucky to survive. In the old days there used to be not only laws governing the possession, sale and use of dangerous chemicals but such laws were enforced. Not today.
It is not necessarily the absence of laws, but their enforcement and the will of the courts to convict the criminals. The so called police investigations can go on endlessly until they are forgotten and the Police as we are sometimes told loses interest in the case. All this is a manifestation of moral decay.
Evidence of Uganda’s moral decadence surrounds us. Take the schools and institutions of higher learning. We see graduates with degrees who can hardly write a grammatically correct paragraph of English. There are numerous law makers who have degrees by purchase.
These days in Uganda you no longer ask how such young men and women got into the universities? To make matters worse, they can even graduate with first class degrees, because grades are awarded for reasons other than academic performance.
The beneficiaries of these immoral practices are tomorrow’s leaders. Since they will have arrived through moral decay, they cannot be expected to be the defenders or guardians of the nation’s moral fibre. This is the tragedy of our time. I am forced to repeat that we have seen this coming. It has not happened overnight. Countries seldom decay abruptly unless they have undergone a violent revolution.
The recent ritual murder and sacrifices in Masaka which have finally provoked the outrage are not the first. There have been very many. There are other equally worrying developments of domestic violence.
The vernacular press in particular publishes almost daily, pictures of horrific murders on the front pages. Husbands or lovers killing their wives and vice versa. Children killing their aged parents for a piece of land. Last year the press reported that 78 wives were killed by their husbands and 40 husbands were murdered by their wives.
Historians will tell us that these happenings are not unique to Uganda nor to the contemporary world because throughout history societies periodically suffer from outrageous decline of morals. But that is not a consolation for Uganda and it should not be an attitude of surrender. My cause for despondence is not the absence of laws. What is missing is the will to enforce them.
What about the inevitable plea of the so called African culture?
We must ask where is the demarcation between African culture and the resurgency of witchcraft? My view is that while it is important for us as a nation to preserve African culture, protection should not extend to those who invoke it in order to commit crimes.
The challenge
As a country we have many challenges. But here I address the challenge of restoring the moral values which have been so massively eroded. Normally, religion can be counted on as a bastion of morality. But that can only be the case when religion is not driven by money. Because we cannot count on religion, we must revert to the law.
As I conclude, I am forced to say that although moral outrage has been expressed and it made me feel good; I must emphasise that lamentation is not enough because it will not stop the politically rapacious and those in search of wealth because they are determined to get their goals at any cost, from using the witch doctors and shrine bosses as partners in crime.
The country needs deterrent sentences. Here I will give an example of New York City where I lived for 8 years. The New York of the 1980s had deteriorated into the crime capital of the West. Businesses and investments deserted the city and relocated in other States. That was when Guillema was elected as mayor in early 1990s.
He set a policy of zero tolerance for crimes with the result that by the mid 1990s, criminals had to relocate elsewhere. I am giving this example merely to show that crime can be fought. It is time for Uganda to deal with this scourge ruthlessly provided we can avoid the convenient mix-up of African culture to justify moral decadence.
The writer is the Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development
I must thank the President and some Church leaders who have come out and demanded capital punishment for those involved in the human sacrifice of our children. I thank the press which has exposed these heinous crimes, telling us that many of the huge buildings we see are built on the bones of the sacrificed children and sprinkled with the blood of the innocent.
I also thank the Inspector General of Police, General Kale Kaihura who as the chief law enforcer, has responded to the scourge decisively by arresting the business tycoon Kato Kajubi. However, inspite of this arrest, Ugandans are skeptical because Kato Kajubi is not the first. Very many others are as free as a bird and Kajubi’s case is reportedly being heard in camera.
I must be one of many Ugandans who have waited for the recent huge expression of a collective moral outrage against the barbaric and primitive acts by the rich and the politically powerful who in a callous pursuance of their diabolic ambitions shamelessly patronise the witchdoctors, publicly parade themselves in the shrines to the stunned silence and sometimes admiration of Ugandans.
Uganda is a country of contradictions because one notices a massive display of religiosity whereby churches and mosques overflow with worshipers. Take the mushrooming of the new churches and religions. In the old days religious revivals signaled a return to the morals and values which had been eroded. Unfortunately, this is the opposite in Uganda because the level of immorality in some of these organisations is almost diabolic.
These very same people who as in the case of Christians go to Holy Communion every Sunday are the biggest patrons of witchcraft and the shrine bosses. For many Ugandans including some religious leaders there is no moral contradiction in all this as long generous donations keep flowing. Sadly we have for several years seen this evil cancer spreading and actively eating away the moral fabric of the nation. Because of the extensive erosion of the moral fibre and basic religious values, Uganda is witnessing a massive resurgency of and the popularity of witchcraft, witchdoctors and the shrine bosses as well as human sacrifice. All this is in the name of African culture.
Such an extraordinary reversal of values can be measured by the patronage enjoyed by the witchdoctors and their shrines.
There is enough evidence to prove that it is in such shrines that the majority of sacrifices of innocent children is planned and executed.
It is equally important to recognise that there is a very thin line between those who ruthlessly pursue political power and those who ruthlessly search for riches. They are both the patrons of the shrine bosses and it is the patronage of the rich which sustains the supply side which is provided by the shrine bosses. Evidence of the moral decadence is how those who arrive with the help of human sacrifice are cheered and congratulated for their smartness and success. Unfortunately, in today’s Uganda these are the role models for the young generation who also aspire to acquire the same political power and wealth.
Demand and supply
The sustainability of these heinous crimes has a demand and supply side because the scarifying of children cannot thrive without the shrine bosses. They too cannot thrive without the patronage of those who believe that power and money need human sacrifices to be got and retained. The Government cannot root out this cancer without recognising that the increase in child sacrifices is the result of a sustained demand.
The audacious patronage enjoyed by the witchdoctors has emboldened these shrine bosses to fear nothing not even the law because none of them has been hanged for their crimes. What we mean by the supply side is the infrastructure of witchcraft as a profession or business plus the witchdoctors and their shrines.
The demand side has no obvious infrastructure because the majority of them, seldom parade themselves and for that reason the Government may find it difficult to launch a frontal attack on them.
However even if the supply side infrastructure is destroyed or it is made difficult to operate, even if expressions of moral outrage is sustained, these by themselves will not be enough to deter the demand side because the hankering for power and wealth are overwhelming. Let us face it. There is a very thin line between the business tycoon who buy children’s tongues and gorged out eyes and the politicians. Both seek the same power and wealth and the means to acquire these is by the witchdoctors.
For too long these rich and politically powerful have as the saying goes, got away with murder. Not too long ago, in Natete, the press reported about those who were involved in the sacrifice of a small boy. But there has never been a single court conviction. And yet petty thieves are killed by the mob for stealing a few tubers of cassava or a chicken. Because the courts will not convict those with money and political power, I can foresee a problem unless as the President suggested, these murderers are dealt with by firing squad.
We have watched the continuing erosion of Uganda’s moral fibre as exemplified by the absence of court conviction of the numerous barbaric acts which include pouring acid on people. I equate such acts with murder or attempted murder. We see men and women who have been permanently maimed and disfigured for life by acid action if they are lucky to survive. In the old days there used to be not only laws governing the possession, sale and use of dangerous chemicals but such laws were enforced. Not today.
It is not necessarily the absence of laws, but their enforcement and the will of the courts to convict the criminals. The so called police investigations can go on endlessly until they are forgotten and the Police as we are sometimes told loses interest in the case. All this is a manifestation of moral decay.
Evidence of Uganda’s moral decadence surrounds us. Take the schools and institutions of higher learning. We see graduates with degrees who can hardly write a grammatically correct paragraph of English. There are numerous law makers who have degrees by purchase.
These days in Uganda you no longer ask how such young men and women got into the universities? To make matters worse, they can even graduate with first class degrees, because grades are awarded for reasons other than academic performance.
The beneficiaries of these immoral practices are tomorrow’s leaders. Since they will have arrived through moral decay, they cannot be expected to be the defenders or guardians of the nation’s moral fibre. This is the tragedy of our time. I am forced to repeat that we have seen this coming. It has not happened overnight. Countries seldom decay abruptly unless they have undergone a violent revolution.
The recent ritual murder and sacrifices in Masaka which have finally provoked the outrage are not the first. There have been very many. There are other equally worrying developments of domestic violence.
The vernacular press in particular publishes almost daily, pictures of horrific murders on the front pages. Husbands or lovers killing their wives and vice versa. Children killing their aged parents for a piece of land. Last year the press reported that 78 wives were killed by their husbands and 40 husbands were murdered by their wives.
Historians will tell us that these happenings are not unique to Uganda nor to the contemporary world because throughout history societies periodically suffer from outrageous decline of morals. But that is not a consolation for Uganda and it should not be an attitude of surrender. My cause for despondence is not the absence of laws. What is missing is the will to enforce them.
What about the inevitable plea of the so called African culture?
We must ask where is the demarcation between African culture and the resurgency of witchcraft? My view is that while it is important for us as a nation to preserve African culture, protection should not extend to those who invoke it in order to commit crimes.
The challenge
As a country we have many challenges. But here I address the challenge of restoring the moral values which have been so massively eroded. Normally, religion can be counted on as a bastion of morality. But that can only be the case when religion is not driven by money. Because we cannot count on religion, we must revert to the law.
As I conclude, I am forced to say that although moral outrage has been expressed and it made me feel good; I must emphasise that lamentation is not enough because it will not stop the politically rapacious and those in search of wealth because they are determined to get their goals at any cost, from using the witch doctors and shrine bosses as partners in crime.
The country needs deterrent sentences. Here I will give an example of New York City where I lived for 8 years. The New York of the 1980s had deteriorated into the crime capital of the West. Businesses and investments deserted the city and relocated in other States. That was when Guillema was elected as mayor in early 1990s.
He set a policy of zero tolerance for crimes with the result that by the mid 1990s, criminals had to relocate elsewhere. I am giving this example merely to show that crime can be fought. It is time for Uganda to deal with this scourge ruthlessly provided we can avoid the convenient mix-up of African culture to justify moral decadence.
The writer is the Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development