Locals want witchdoctors kicked out of town

May 30, 2016

Recently three witch doctors were arrested for conning students out of their school fees, promising them wisdom.

PIC: These three witchdoctors were arrested for causing the death of a pregnant woman in Kasese. (Credit: Wilson Asiimwe)

Residents of Kasese municipality have asked the new municipal leadership to kick witchdoctors out of the town and vandalize their shrines.

This follows several complaints from residents who claim to have been conned. Some of the victims, especially women, have also talked of being sexually abused.

Joy Kabugho, a resident of Nyamwamba division, claims that she once approached a witchdoctor to help her improve her business fortunes but instead got conned.

"We have written to the mayor asking him to discuss the issues with his council so that all these witchdoctors can be weeded out of the town," she says.

Kabugho adds that several women have been raped and infected with HIV and others impregnated by witchdoctors in the area.

She says they entice their victims with attractive messages and later do all evil acts on them with a promise of better fortunes.

Items recovered from a shrine of witchdoctors arrested recently over murder. (Credit: Wilson Asiimwe)


"Many witchdoctors operate in squalid conditions without authorization from National Drug Authority or their national associations and they do the work which they are not mandated to do by the law," said John Mugisa, a local leader in Nyamwamba division.

Recently three witchdoctors were arrested for conning students out of their school fees, promising them wisdom to excel in their examinations and get government sponsorships.

Also recently, the district council of Kasese resolved to ban all witchdoctors and traditional birth attendants on grounds that they were behind the high number of women dying in labor.

Former district vice chairman Tadeo Muhindo, while addressing a stakeholders meeting at Rwenzori International Hotel recently, said that the district authorities were greatly concerned about the high number of witchdoctors operating in the district.

Police in Kasese arrested three witchdoctors on allegations of causing the death of an expectant woman in a botched attempt to help her deliver inside their shrine.

Joseph Andama, the officer in charge of criminal investigations and intelligence at Kasese division police, identified the three as Thembo Julius, Muhindo Jackson and Oliver Masika.

The victim was 22-year-old Brenda Masika Brenda from Kabarole district. The dead woman's husband, who reportedly took her to the shrine, has since gone into hiding.

One of the witchdoctors confessed to having fed the victim on rat's blood. (Credit: Wilson Asiimwe)


The witchdoctors reportedly tried to bury the woman inside the shrine after the botched operation but the absence of Masika caught the attention of locals.

 "We were tipped off by some concerned neighbors who saw the woman entering the shrine two days back but when they noticed that the woman was not coming out, they sensed danger and notified the village leaders who found the body of the woman in the shrine as the three were planning to bury it secretly inside the shrine," said Andama.

Police are also pursuing the fugitive husband.

"We are hunting the husband who disappeared upon realizing that his wife had died at the hands of witchdoctors," added Andama.

"We don't know his motive because the health center is just a few meters from their place of residence but he opted for the witchdoctors."

Muhindo, one of the witchdoctors, confessed that they had been feeding the woman on blood from rats because they had discovered that she did not have enough blood.

"When her husband brought her to us, we discovered that she could not give birth because she did not have enough blood so we trapped rats and cats and started feeding her on their blood but when we tried to operate on her she died," he admitted.

Police recovered several items including human skulls, body parts and fetishes from the shrine.

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