Busabala: Where witchcraft rules

Jul 07, 2010

FOR the last two weeks, the Police have been combing Busabala villages following a discovery of a mutilated body in the area. Chris Kiwawulo profiles the community.

FOR the last two weeks, the Police have been combing Busabala villages following a discovery of a mutilated body in the area. Chris Kiwawulo profiles the community.

BUSABALA parish in Wakiso district is about 4km southwest of Kampala city. The area is not as developed as other areas within a similar distance from the city. Reason? Whoever tries to put up a development project there is threatened with witchcraft.

Abas Kiwanuka, a new resident of Kibiri village, says: “People are against development, and see whoever tries to work hard as an enemy. The healers have the capacity to wreck havoc through causing misfortunes once someone pays for their services.”

Kiwanuka, who recently lost 300 chicken to theft, notes that some residents use witchcraft for criminal activities.

Unauthorised healers
Ssebugenyi Kawemba, the area native doctors’ chairperson, says there are over 100 traditional healers in Busabala, most of whom operate illegally.

Kawemba has been working with local authorities within Busabala parish, urging them to accredit traditional healers with proper documents to weed out the quack ones.

“I would give the healers a letter to take to their village council authorities for recommendation but many did not. Instead, they took me as an enemy and burnt down my shrine,” Kawemba adds.

The traditional healers scary names like “Musajja taseka” meaning “A man who does not joke”. This way, they easily attract clients, most of whom are desperate.

They hoodwink their unsuspecting victims by claiming to be from the coastal towns of Tanzania which is believed to be the origin of traditional medicine in East Africa. Others claim to have spiritual powers from the Indian Ocean.

The shrines
Cowrie shells, calabashes, spears, smoking pipes, pots, gourds, hides and horns from domestic and wild animals are among the items gathered in shrines. Bark-cloth is used as curtains while mats are spread on the floor where clients sit.

A resident who claims to have been conned, says the healers change voices and usually use intimidating language to subdue their clients.

Joyce Sserwadda, the Kaabuma village chairperson in Busabala, says most traditional healers go to the area as settlers after buying land, only to put up shrines without the knowledge of authorities.

Such traditional healers include Moses Mugwanya Ssenyonga, who settled in Busabala from Makindye division.

She says they expect every traditional healer to register with the village council but most of them do not.

Some residents have accused members of the local councils of taking bribes to register fake traditional healers. Although Sserwadda could not entirely dismiss the allegation as untrue, she says traditional healers many times dupe the local council authorities.

A suspected ritual murder
When a body of a murdered man without the head and private parts was discovered in Busabala on June 27, the Police suspected it could have been a case of ritual murder.

This prompted a search of the traditional healers’ shrines in the area.The search led by the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura, resulted into the arrest of eight traditional healers in whose shrines the Police found blood-stained items.

Ssenyonga is one of the eight traditional healers that Police arrested. Consequently, the Kayihura, announced a suspension of the activities of traditional healers in Busabala.

Although Ssenyonga’s brother, Stanley Musoke, says the blood found in his brother’s single-room shrine was for goats and chicken, the Police say they will only set Ssenyonga free after testing the blood.

For a stranger in Busabala, it is difficult to identify the traditional healers because they stealthily operate. With the Police arresting some of the traditional healers over suspected involvement in illegal activities and promising to streamline their operations, doing away with the fear about witchcraft in Busabala remains a tall order.

Chronology of events
June 27, a mutilated body of a man was found in a bush in Kaabuma village, Busabala. Police took it to the city mortuary.

June 28, the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, visited the scene of crime, combed the bushes around and addressed the Busabala residents. He also met with traditional healers in the area and searched their shrines.

June 29, the search continued and the Police arrested eight traditional healers.

June 30, Sylvia Namutebi (Maama Fina) burnt a shrine in Busabala.

July 3, a head belonging to Pasikali Kashushe, a worker on Electoral Commission boss Eng. Badru Kiggundu’s farm in Makindye, Wakiso district, was found in a pit latrine. Police suspect the trunk found in Busabala belongs to Kashushe.

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