Police to crackdown on traditional healers

By Fred Turyakira and Abdulkarim Sengendo

The Police are going to crack down on traditional medicine practitioners following the increased number of human sacrifice and murder cases in the country, the Inspector General of Police, Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura has said.

Kayihura also announced that they would crackdown on boda-boda operators suspected to be engaged in criminal acts like murder, rape and theft of cash and property of passengers they transport.

"We have boda-boda operators who are criminals and those who are not and this is the same case in Kampala but we shall start by registering all boda-boda operators and their stages," he said.

He told journalists and boda-boda riders at Booma grounds in Mbarara town during his two-day visit to Mbarara district over cases of land grabbing and insecurity.

 Kayihura, who flew in a chopper, said these traditional healers have been fleecing people of their money in the name of making them rich.

 A businessman in Mbarara town, Denis Murangira, 35, the proprietor of Bamurangira Hardware along Mbaguta Street was recently murdered allegedly by traditional healers over unclear circumstances.

Murangira was attacked at Ankole's Prince Valley dam in Kariro, Rubindi along Mbarara-Ibanda road and the body was found in his car.
It is alleged that he was hit on the head when he went to collect money from a medicine man and the Police arrested four other people in connection with the murder.

The arrested included: Bwambale Ssalongo alias Matata 30, a medicineman from Rubindi town, Samuel Bogere 34, of Kitabo I in Kashongi sub-county, Osbert Mwesigye 39, a mechanic from Mbarara town and a resident of Nombe village, Kashare sub-county and Godfrey Matsiko alias Kagwa, a boda-boda cyclist in Rubindi and a resident of Nombe village in Kashare, Mbarara district.

Kayihura said the Murangira's body would be exhumed for a Police surgeon to carry out another postmortem to ascertain the cause of death because the issue of poison came later after the burial.

"Many people have died in the hands of fake traditional healers and we cannot allow this to continue. We are going to involve leaders of the traditional healers association to identify genuine ones from fake ones," He added.

Kayihura asked the western regional Police commander, Martin Abilu, to start registering and getting backgrounds of all traditional healers in the region but that genuine traditional healing should not be suppressed because there are herbal medicines that treat diseases.