{"id":9484,"date":"2011-12-09T10:54:19","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T10:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/anas-on-the-spell-of-the-albino\/"},"modified":"2011-12-09T10:54:19","modified_gmt":"2011-12-09T10:54:19","slug":"anas-on-the-spell-of-the-albino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/09\/anas-on-the-spell-of-the-albino\/","title":{"rendered":"Anas on the Spell of the Albino"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026Tanzanian Witch Doctor Exposed As Our Man Goes Undercover As A Businessman And Confronts Him For Using The Albino Body Parts Of Children For Rituals.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anas Aremeyaw Anas reports from Geita, Northern Tanzania, with additional files from Claudio Von Planta (United Kingdom) and Richard Mgamba (Tanzania).<\/strong><\/p>\n

It all happened in an instant. Eleven year-old Adam had finished eating dinner with his father and a male visitor who sat with the family through the meal. As Adam moved to wash his hands, the man grabbed him, drew a machete and began hacking away his fingers. Adam screamed for help; but his father and stepmother looked on as the man pulled him to the family hut and placed his hand on a wooden frame to ease the hacking. Before the man left Adam, he had chopped off three of his fingers.<\/p>\n

After the attack, Adam\u2019s father and stepmother sat idly, so unconcerned they didn\u2019t even bother to get him medical attention. Their hut was filled with Adam\u2019s screaming cries for three hours until his sister, Christina, came home with torchlight to see her brother writhing in pain. She sounded the alarm and helped take Adam to the hospital. Along with the emotional and physical trauma Adam has endured, Adam\u2019s x-rays revealed his arm is also broken.<\/p>\n

That same week, Kurwa, a 16-year-old albino girl, had 80 percent of her arm sawed off shortly after dinner. Her family was inside when they heard her yells. Unlike Adam\u2019s case, Kurwa\u2019s father dashed outside to protect her and suffered injuries after being hit with a hoe by her attackers. \u201cThis is very sad,\u201d Dr. Leonard Subi, Chief Medical Officer of the Kahama District Hospital said of his teenage amputee patient. He continued, “Itsunacceptable because every human being has a right to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are just the most recent scenes of albino bashings near Geita in Northern Tanzania, a place where witchcraft has taken hold of communities and led to the widespread belief that possessing the bones of an albino can increase one\u2019s monetary wealth. Investigations by The New Crusading GUIDE\u2019s Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has revealed gross human rights violations perpetrated against albinos in some parts of Tanzania. The investigation forms part of the Africa Investigates series featured on Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very sad,\u201d said Isaack Timothy, a fellow albino who rushed to Adam and Kurwa\u2019s bedsides when he heard the news. Near tears he continued, \u201cThis witchcraft belief is taking us to a bad place. We are going to kill each other for no reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ace reporter, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, went undercover to expose some of these witchdoctors and the motives behind these acts of hate against albinos in Tanzania and some other parts of East Africa.<\/p>\n

Witch Doctor: \u201cWe take it from Young People.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe take it from young people,\u201d grimaced witch doctor Mashala Deus about the bones of albinos he crushes and then adds to herbal medicines in an attempt to boost people\u2019s success. \u201cFinding albino parts,\u201d says Deus, \u201cis very difficult. That\u2019s why we get people to buy it.\u201d Deus, whose name means God, is revered as such in his village because it is believed that he has inherited mystical powers from his grandparents.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease no. Please. Please father,\u201d Deus squirmed in his seat, pale faced and withering like a leaf from fear. His begging followed a confrontation with a prosthetic albino arm that he thought was real, \u201csorry,\u201d he pleaded louder.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry for what?\u201d Asks Anas as he inched the life-like limb close to Deus. . Before the arm was unveiled, Deus had spent close to 30 minutes administering an in-depth sales pitch for black magic which involved the albino body parts of children. And now he was engaging in a glorious about-face.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease I will stop,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you stop these albino things?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Children in Tanzania are often told tales that albino children never die and as they age they will just disappear at a certain point. These propagandistic ideas concerning this marginalized population are often conjured up by witchdoctors like Deus whose fraudulent stories drive the albino body parts industry.<\/p>\n

Of the three men arrested by police following Adam\u2019s attack, all were witch doctors \u2014 Adam\u2019s father, a man called Jesus, and another man who recently drew a huge crowd of fortune seekers. \u201cMaybe it is poverty,\u201d speculated Timothy about the motives of buyers, \u201cbut what kind of poverty makes parents sell their child?\u201d, he asks.<\/p>\n

Albinos: Tanzania\u2019s Fastest Growing Cash Crop?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Tanzania, body parts of albinos are a cash crop of sorts. A complete set of body parts \u2013 including limbs, genitals, ears, tongue and nose \u2013 can sell for $75,000. The surge in the use of albino body parts as a good luck charm is a result of the kind of marketing exercise by witch doctors who propagate the myth that spiritual potions made out of albino body parts bring good fortune. This has driven the demand among wealthy buyers and endangered the lives of Tanzanian albinos.<\/p>\n

The answer to Timothy\u2019s query is also partly rooted in the increase of gold production in Tanzania. Tanzania is the continent\u2019s third largest producer of gold and according to a September, 2011 report by the Central bank, exports of the mineral increased from $1.5 billion in 2010 to $1.7 billion in 2011., . \u201cSmall miners,\u201d explained Timothy of community members who dream of earning profits akin to AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. \u201cbelieve in the witchcraft of using albino bones., \u201cThey take bones into the gold mines\u2026 claim it to be like good luck charms, which makes a person rich,\u201d Continued Timothy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true, it\u2019s true!\u201d exclaimed a miner who works near Geita of the notion that albino bones bring prosperity. He continued, \u201cThese things I heard from an old man who has wisdom.\u201d When asked whether he would purchase these bones his answer was as clear as water,, \u201cdefinitely, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 2008, 62 albinos have been the casualties of cash-hungry killing sprees that have become standard fare in Tanzania. Adam and Kurwa are among the 16 albinos who have been dismembered whilst the bodies of 12 albinos have been exhumed from their graves for the inhumane reason of chopping off their body parts for sale to witch doctors. Exhuming and dismembering a dead body for sale!<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Play in the Sun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right from birth, most albinos are presented with a pack of problems. Formally known as Oculocutaneous Albinism (OCA), the genetic disorder is caused by the inability of the body to produce and distribute melanin. Melanin is the substance that gives color to the skin, hair, and eyes. In its most severe forms, OCA can lead to skin cancers and eye problems.<\/p>\n

The January 2011 Dermatalogic Clinics Journal published an article titled \u201cAlbinism in Africa: stigma, slaughter and awareness campaigns\u201d which detailed the prevalence of OCA. Among the majority of the world\u2019s population, about 1 in 20,000 people live with OCA. Sub-Saharan Africa has significantly higher rates of OCA. In Tanzania, 1 in 1429 people live with OCA.<\/p>\n

Tanzanian albinos face significant challenges. Though recent reports have been more optimistic, 98 percent of Tanzanian albinos are not expected to reach their 40th birthday. There is no cure for OCA, and all the treatment centers solely on protecting albinos from the rays of the sun. This can be a daunting task for the Sub-Saharan African albino who lives in a continent where the sun\u2019s potency can be unrelenting and where sunscreens can be cost prohibitive.<\/p>\n

Employment, a crucial component in being able to afford treatment, can also be an issue. Most albinos are unemployed, as they face discrimination from employers. African albinos recall instances of being told that their presence as an employee could hurt the company\u2019s reputation, despite their educational credentials. When albinos are lucky enough to be employed, it can be at great risk to their health. A recent study showed that 96 percent of employed albinos worked outdoors, posing grave risks to their health. But it seems that even more dangerous than the scorching sun is the albino hunter\u2019s machete.<\/p>\n

Ending the Albino Genocide<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the atrocities that Tanzanian albinos confront, they can draw some comfort from the fact that in the most recent cases, local police have been aggressive about apprehending attackers. In Adam\u2019s case, three suspects, including the father, stepmother, and the man who severed his fingers have been arraigned before court. It is unclear what the verdict of the courts will be, but the evidence is overwhelming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere in the village everyone saw that he [Robert Tangawizi] had sold his child,\u201d said Senior Police Superintendent Paulo Kasebago about Adam\u2019s father. Kasebago continued on Tangawizi \u201cHe was giving dodgy answers, slipping and sliding. It didn’t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dotto Lushinge, Robert Tangawizi\u2019s own mother, rendered her verdict, \u201cI don’t think they are innocent. They came to kill.\u201d She had this to say about Adam, \u201cWhen I hear that my grandchild is recovering well I get hope.\u201d In a final appeal she pleaded, \u201chelp us find a safe place for my grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems that organizations such as the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), have made an attempt to do just that. IFRC has built safe havens for albinos who have fled from home due to threats on their lives. The Kabanga School for the Disabled, shelters over 50 albino children and their mothers who are no longer safe in their hometowns.<\/p>\n

While some organizations establish safe houses, others have proposed other solutions. In Kenya, advocates who also comprise albinos who have fled Tanzania, have proposed the idea of bodyguards for albinos. The Tanzanian government has also not been idle amidst the war against albinos. Just last month, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda announced that eight mercenaries have been sentenced to death for murdering albinos.<\/p>\n

Still, despite the incontrovertible war being waged against albinos, it seems that the biggest battle must be fought against witchdoctors. These witchdoctors have managed to hold captive the hearts and minds of the average Tanzanian, fueling what the Tanzanian albino advocacy group Asante Mariamu, considers \u201ca form of genocide.\u201d Perhaps the legal conviction that fellow albino Isaack Timothy seemed most eager about was that of the town witch doctor. \u201cThere is no way that even a Tanzanian court could let them free because he admitted already to be involved. I\u2019m really happy with this job.\u201d Timothy said of the results of the undercover investigation, \u201cLet it continue.\u201d Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

Africa Investigates can be seen each week on Al Jazeera at the following times GMT: Wednesday: 2230; Thursday: 0930; Friday: 0330; Saturday: 1630; Sunday: 2230; Monday: 0930; Tuesday: 0330; Wednesday: 1630.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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