Child sacrifice: police forms special unit, pastors watched
Jun 25, 2010
THREE-YEAR-OLD Evra Mudaali on June 13 joined the growing list of people who have been brutally murdered in ritual practices across the country.
By John Semakula and Paddy Nsobya
THREE-YEAR-OLD Evra Mudaali on June 13 joined the growing list of people who have been brutally murdered in ritual practices across the country.
Her parents, Ronald Serwajjo, 24 and mother Rosemary Anyango, 21, residents of Bugoba village in Nyenga sub-county, Buikwe district, had left her with her grandmother, Agnes Namanya, 52. It was Mudaali’s grandmother who allegedly led her to the family shrine where she was sacrificed.
Five days later, her body was found dumped at the shores of Lake Victoria with a hole in the armpits. Her heart and the left ear were missing.
The Police say Mudaali’s family sacrificed her during a ritual aimed at initiating one of the family members into traditional healing. At that time, the girl’s father had gone to a local video hall where he works, while the mother had gone to look after a sick relative. The duo said they used to leave Mudaali with the grandparents.
The grandparents, Namanya and John Baptist Serwajjo, 70, were arrested together with four other members of the family, on suspicion that they spearheaded the murder.
Among the family members arrested were Yuda Nakacho, 28, the girl’s paternal uncle who was being initiated into traditional healing and his brothers David Mukulu, Lauben Mande, 48 and Jennifer Night, 40, wife of one of them.
It is alleged that after killing the little girl, they dumped the body beside the lake to kill evidence. But a search by Police and residents led them to the body.
Following Mudaali’s death, a mob descended on the suspects’ houses and hit them to the ground. They also destroyed all shrines in the village.
Mudaali is one of the many Ugandan children and elders who have been condemned to death in a cruel way by other Ugandans in the name of human sacrifice. It is, however, shocking that some of those involved in the human sacrifice are relatives or people who are close to the victims.
In Kamuli district, the Police on May 11 discovered the beheaded body of a four-year-old boy, Saley Mugomba. He was the son of Rose Kasone and Ali Kamole of Bulopa trading centre.
His body was discovered in a potato plantation adjacent to his parents’ residence, three days after he disappeared from home.
Patrick Walama, a neighbour to the deceased’s parents; Kisuule Bakaki Mugere, a traditional healer and George Kaziro, the chairman of the traditional healers in the area, were arrested and charged.
Police suspect that both murders were acts of human sacrifice.
On May 3, a two-year-old girl, only identified as Nakato, went missing from her home at Kaguyo village in Ngoma sub county, Nakaseke district.
Nakato has never been seen again and Police suspect that she was sacrificed.
Following her disappearance, three people including her aunt, Scovia Nalugo and her father, Stephen Bawesi, were arrested.
According to Police records, Nalugo admitted that she was promised sh250,000 by Isma Kafeero, a charcoal burner in the village if she sold the girl to him.
The Police says Nalugo confessed that she witnessed Kafeero cut off the girl’s head. In Wakiso district, a body of a female juvenile was recovered in Katuge village.
Police identified the deceased as Margaret Babirye, 10. Babirye’s body was found in a shallow grave in Kasinini Forest. The body had multiple cuts the neck and on the head, while the right leg and left arm were missing.
The other case of human sacrifice was reported in Njeru Town Council, where a decomposing body of an eight-year-old girl was discovered. The deceased was identified as Caroline Likiso, daughter of Baallu Onzima, a resident of the town.
Her body was found with a slit neck and a missing tongue. The Police says children are vulnerable because they can easily be deceived.
According to the Police, cases of human sacrifice are not restricted to a particular area in the country, but are spontaneous and spread across Uganda.
The origin of human sacrifice still puzzles many Ugandans as it was not part of the traditional culture.
Sylvia Namutebi (Mama Fina), the chairperson of a traditional healers association, says genuine healers sacrifice animals not human beings.
“The practice of human sacrifice was borrowed from foreign countries by Ugandans who wanted to make quick money by duping their clients,†she said.
She said in order to deal with fake traditional healers, the public must help law enforcers in the process of arresting and prosecuting suspects.
The head of the anti-human sacrifice and trafficking taskforce in the country, Moses Binoga, says new cases of human sacrifice are still being reported.
Binoga says the causes of human sacrifice in Uganda to include the existence of traditional healers who possess spirits, which prescribe human blood as the main course of treatment.
He also mentioned that there is a group of people who resort to witchcraft for wealth, job security and health, whom he said are obsessed with witchcraft to the extent that if they are sent to sacrifice human beings, they do it.
By May 2010, five cases of human sacrifice had been reported to the Police, of which two were in Buikwe district. Several other cases of attempted human sacrifice were also reported.
Last year, according to Police records, a total of 27 cases were reported and 125 suspects were arrested, 54 of whom were charged.
Of last year’s cases, four were in Kampala, Jinja and Mukono each had three cases, while 18 other districts registered one each.
THREE-YEAR-OLD Evra Mudaali on June 13 joined the growing list of people who have been brutally murdered in ritual practices across the country.
Her parents, Ronald Serwajjo, 24 and mother Rosemary Anyango, 21, residents of Bugoba village in Nyenga sub-county, Buikwe district, had left her with her grandmother, Agnes Namanya, 52. It was Mudaali’s grandmother who allegedly led her to the family shrine where she was sacrificed.
Five days later, her body was found dumped at the shores of Lake Victoria with a hole in the armpits. Her heart and the left ear were missing.
The Police say Mudaali’s family sacrificed her during a ritual aimed at initiating one of the family members into traditional healing. At that time, the girl’s father had gone to a local video hall where he works, while the mother had gone to look after a sick relative. The duo said they used to leave Mudaali with the grandparents.
The grandparents, Namanya and John Baptist Serwajjo, 70, were arrested together with four other members of the family, on suspicion that they spearheaded the murder.
Among the family members arrested were Yuda Nakacho, 28, the girl’s paternal uncle who was being initiated into traditional healing and his brothers David Mukulu, Lauben Mande, 48 and Jennifer Night, 40, wife of one of them.
It is alleged that after killing the little girl, they dumped the body beside the lake to kill evidence. But a search by Police and residents led them to the body.
Following Mudaali’s death, a mob descended on the suspects’ houses and hit them to the ground. They also destroyed all shrines in the village.
Mudaali is one of the many Ugandan children and elders who have been condemned to death in a cruel way by other Ugandans in the name of human sacrifice. It is, however, shocking that some of those involved in the human sacrifice are relatives or people who are close to the victims.
In Kamuli district, the Police on May 11 discovered the beheaded body of a four-year-old boy, Saley Mugomba. He was the son of Rose Kasone and Ali Kamole of Bulopa trading centre.
His body was discovered in a potato plantation adjacent to his parents’ residence, three days after he disappeared from home.
Patrick Walama, a neighbour to the deceased’s parents; Kisuule Bakaki Mugere, a traditional healer and George Kaziro, the chairman of the traditional healers in the area, were arrested and charged.
Police suspect that both murders were acts of human sacrifice.
On May 3, a two-year-old girl, only identified as Nakato, went missing from her home at Kaguyo village in Ngoma sub county, Nakaseke district.
Nakato has never been seen again and Police suspect that she was sacrificed.
Following her disappearance, three people including her aunt, Scovia Nalugo and her father, Stephen Bawesi, were arrested.
According to Police records, Nalugo admitted that she was promised sh250,000 by Isma Kafeero, a charcoal burner in the village if she sold the girl to him.
The Police says Nalugo confessed that she witnessed Kafeero cut off the girl’s head. In Wakiso district, a body of a female juvenile was recovered in Katuge village.
Police identified the deceased as Margaret Babirye, 10. Babirye’s body was found in a shallow grave in Kasinini Forest. The body had multiple cuts the neck and on the head, while the right leg and left arm were missing.
The other case of human sacrifice was reported in Njeru Town Council, where a decomposing body of an eight-year-old girl was discovered. The deceased was identified as Caroline Likiso, daughter of Baallu Onzima, a resident of the town.
Her body was found with a slit neck and a missing tongue. The Police says children are vulnerable because they can easily be deceived.
According to the Police, cases of human sacrifice are not restricted to a particular area in the country, but are spontaneous and spread across Uganda.
The origin of human sacrifice still puzzles many Ugandans as it was not part of the traditional culture.
Sylvia Namutebi (Mama Fina), the chairperson of a traditional healers association, says genuine healers sacrifice animals not human beings.
“The practice of human sacrifice was borrowed from foreign countries by Ugandans who wanted to make quick money by duping their clients,†she said.
She said in order to deal with fake traditional healers, the public must help law enforcers in the process of arresting and prosecuting suspects.
The head of the anti-human sacrifice and trafficking taskforce in the country, Moses Binoga, says new cases of human sacrifice are still being reported.
Binoga says the causes of human sacrifice in Uganda to include the existence of traditional healers who possess spirits, which prescribe human blood as the main course of treatment.
He also mentioned that there is a group of people who resort to witchcraft for wealth, job security and health, whom he said are obsessed with witchcraft to the extent that if they are sent to sacrifice human beings, they do it.
By May 2010, five cases of human sacrifice had been reported to the Police, of which two were in Buikwe district. Several other cases of attempted human sacrifice were also reported.
Last year, according to Police records, a total of 27 cases were reported and 125 suspects were arrested, 54 of whom were charged.
Of last year’s cases, four were in Kampala, Jinja and Mukono each had three cases, while 18 other districts registered one each.