Suspected albino killer held
May 30, 2009
A Tanzanian traditional healer, suspected of having participated in sacrificing albinos in his country, has been arrested in Masaka.
By Ali Mambule
in Masaka
A Tanzanian traditional healer, suspected of having participated in sacrificing albinos in his country, has been arrested in Masaka.
Abdallah Kalikawe, alias Nastoli, was arrested by fellow traditional herbalists and handed over to the Police.
Kalikawe of Kagera province in Tanzania pleaded before the head of Masaka Police station, Andrew Gidui, not to be deported for fear of being lynched.
“I escaped when residents mounted a hunt for traditional herbalists whom they suspected of sacrifising albinos recently,†he said.
He added that he entered Uganda via the Bugango border in Isingiro district and settled in Bukomansimbi in Masaka, from where he proceeded to Mukudde zone in Nyendo about a month ago.
Kalikawe had presented a letter to the local authorities, indicating that he was born in Kabigi village, Bukomansimbi. However, the LC1 officials of Mukudde zone in Nyendo, where he had settled, were not convinced.
“This is why they declined to receive him formally and instead we were called in to scrutinise his activities as leaders of traditional healers in the district,†said Ssalongo Kayinga, the chairperson of Masaka District Traditional Healers’ Association.
The herbalists became suspicious of Kalikawe after villagers complained that he was using strange methods to examine and treat his clients, including demanding huge sums of money as payment for services he offered.
On Wednesday, a team of herbalists went to Kalikawe’s shrine and demanded to know the procedures he used to treat his patients.
“I use numbers recorded in a secret book, compare them with my physical observation on the client to tell his or her name and problems. I then use my local herbs to heal that person,†Kalikawe narrated.
He failed to answer questions related to traditional healing in Uganda.
But Gidui said the Police would only charge Kalikawe with illegal entry because there was no evidence of him using witchcraft and soliciting for money. He said Kalikawe would be deported.
in Masaka
A Tanzanian traditional healer, suspected of having participated in sacrificing albinos in his country, has been arrested in Masaka.
Abdallah Kalikawe, alias Nastoli, was arrested by fellow traditional herbalists and handed over to the Police.
Kalikawe of Kagera province in Tanzania pleaded before the head of Masaka Police station, Andrew Gidui, not to be deported for fear of being lynched.
“I escaped when residents mounted a hunt for traditional herbalists whom they suspected of sacrifising albinos recently,†he said.
He added that he entered Uganda via the Bugango border in Isingiro district and settled in Bukomansimbi in Masaka, from where he proceeded to Mukudde zone in Nyendo about a month ago.
Kalikawe had presented a letter to the local authorities, indicating that he was born in Kabigi village, Bukomansimbi. However, the LC1 officials of Mukudde zone in Nyendo, where he had settled, were not convinced.
“This is why they declined to receive him formally and instead we were called in to scrutinise his activities as leaders of traditional healers in the district,†said Ssalongo Kayinga, the chairperson of Masaka District Traditional Healers’ Association.
The herbalists became suspicious of Kalikawe after villagers complained that he was using strange methods to examine and treat his clients, including demanding huge sums of money as payment for services he offered.
On Wednesday, a team of herbalists went to Kalikawe’s shrine and demanded to know the procedures he used to treat his patients.
“I use numbers recorded in a secret book, compare them with my physical observation on the client to tell his or her name and problems. I then use my local herbs to heal that person,†Kalikawe narrated.
He failed to answer questions related to traditional healing in Uganda.
But Gidui said the Police would only charge Kalikawe with illegal entry because there was no evidence of him using witchcraft and soliciting for money. He said Kalikawe would be deported.