The trial wil start tomorrow, on December 29, 2020 (webmaster FVDK).
Suspect tells court police offered K300,000, a house for him to implicate 2 soldiers indicted for murder of 7 Lusaka men
Published: December 23, 2020 By: The Mast On Line, Mwaka Ndawa – Zambia
A WITCH doctor has told the Lusaka High Court that senior investigation officers at Lusaka Central Police offered him a house and K300,000 to frame two soldiers, Lucky Siame and Elvis Nyanga, in the murder of seven men in Lusaka.
Lewis Chishimba Bwalya of Kalundu, Lusaka West, told justice Florence Lengalenga that the police charged him with seven counts of murder because he refused to connive with them in framing Siame and Nyanga for the ritual killings that hit Lusaka in 2016.
In this matter, Bwalya is jointly charged with Siame, Christopher Kasapo, a Zambia Air Force office assistant and Elvis Nyanga, for the alleged murder of seven men between March 5 and April 17, 2016 by removing their hearts and mutilating their ears, and male organs.
In his defence, Bwalya narrated that on April 17, whilst he was sleeping at his home, he heard a knock on the door to which he asked who it was and someone responded they were police officers.
“I dressed up and went to check who was at the door and indeed I noticed it was the police. They asked if I was Lewis Chishimba Bwalya and I confirmed and they told me they had come to pick me up. I accompanied them to Matero Police Station where I was detained for 30 minutes and later taken to Northmead Police,” Bwalya narrated.
He told court that at 10:00 hours on a Sunday, he was taken to Lusaka Central Police Station where police officers requested him to assist them.
“They started telling me that ‘we want you to help us as police, we should work together and put our minds together. We want you to assist us. There are suspects we have apprehended, we will show you these suspects so that you know them and you should assist us at court’. They also told me that because I’m a witch doctor, I should tell the court that I gave the suspects charms for cleansing evil spirits. I told them that my job as a witch doctor was that of selling charms and not for cleansing,” Bwalya narrated.
“I told them that I can’t stand as a witness against people I don’t know. They got me and put me in a cell. After 10 minutes, they called the captain of the cells. They brought another person and I heard them say this person should not mix with me. The person was badly beaten and was handcuffed and limping. I only came to know this person at court as Lwambazi Mumbo.”
Bwalya said on May 9, 2016, he was taken to Woodlands Police Station where the police officers read a statement to him in English and asked him to sign it.
Bwalya said he told the police officers that he could not sign the statement because he does not understand English.
“They told me it was for the record’s sake that I sign the documents to which I complied as I had the thought of going home,” Bwalya said.
He recounted that on May 29, the police officers picked him up from the cells and took him to force headquarters for interrogations.
“The boss offered some chips and a drink (Fanta) and asked me to be calm. After I finished eating, they (police) asked me to be a state witness and testify against the two soldiers, Siame and Nyanga and frame them for murdering people in Lusaka’s Zingalume area,” Bwalya said.
“They offered to buy me a house in Kasama and a K300,000. I refused to be a false witness because I am a Christian but the police officers insisted that I testify against the soldiers and they would tell me what to say before court. They said that I should tell the court that Siame and Nyanga came to me for exorcism but I refused because I didn’t want to sin in the eyes of God as it was a heavy burden.”
Bwalya said the police officers decided to give him three days to think about their proposal and after three days they asked him if he had made a decision but one of the officers said he was a fool and was wasting their time to which he was later detained.
He said before he was apprehended, Jabes told him that information had circulated that people were being murdered and their body parts were being sold to Indians and Chinese in exchange for dollars.
Bwalya said he decided to inform his neighbour Kasapo about what was going on.
“Kasapo was my neighbour in Zingalume. We used to live in the same yard while I knew Siame and Nyanga when we were jointly charged. I am asking this court to consider my evidence,” said Bwalya.
In cross-examination by state advocate Frank Sikazwe, Bwalya denied selling male organs saying Jabe was the one who informed him about the killings and he informed the police.
He denied being cautioned by Lwambazi Mumbo, a witch doctor, against killing his uncle in case they met him anywhere.
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga plays a leading role in the fight against child sacrifice in Uganda. He runs Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, a Christian organization focusing on education, health, economic empowerment and protection of children.
KCM was founded in the community of Kyampisi in 2009. At the time, there were several cases of child sacrifice; many homesteads had shrines and practiced witchcraft.
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga says the mostly gruesome murdering of innocent children happens almost each month. Child sacrifice in Uganda is a widespread phenomenon and crime. In the past I have posted various articles on these cruel practices which are based on superstition and the unscrupulous pursuing of more wealth, prestige or power. E.g. on October 6 and February 28 of the current year and on August 3,(two posts) and February 6, 2019. The postings partly overlap the article below.
The following article presents various murder cases and interviews with bereaved parents. Fortunately, some children managed to escape from their agressors, like e.g. Allan Ssembatya. His horrifying experience is told below.
Warning: the following article contains graphic illustrations including a video and description of gruesome ritualistic practices (webmaster FVDK).
Still from video shown below. Two men attacked Allan Ssembatya on his way home from school. The attackers attempted to slice his head with a machete but Allan survived miraculously. The scar is clearly visible.
Uganda: the country where sacrificing children is a thriving business
KAMPALA, Uganda – Each year hundreds of Ugandan children are kidnapped and murdered as part of a thriving human sacrifice business.
A Christian pastor is now teaming up with police and politicians to stop this brutal practice.
Screenshot – the video does not play. The original article shows the video (see ‘Source’). WARNING: Some of the content in this report is disturbing and will be unsuitable for younger viewers.
Published: March 23, 2017 By: CBN News, The Christian Perspective – George Thomas
It’s a little after 2 in the morning. About an hour’s drive south of Kampala.
CBN News has joined undercover detectives, armed police and a pastor hunting for a witch doctor accused of kidnapping and killing children.
“Witch doctors believe that when you kidnap a child you get wealth, you get protection.”
Brutal Ritual of Child Sacrifice
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga leads the search. He runs Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, a Christian effort to stamp out child sacrifice in Uganda. He describes the witch doctors’ brutal ritual.
“When they get the child, most times they cut the neck, they take the blood out, they take the tissue, they cut the genitals or any other body organs that they wish that the spirits want.”
A few hours in, the trail for the killer goes cold.
Pastor Peter says these gruesome crimes happen almost each month.
“The problem is increasing and many children are killed, and there are very few actually that survive, most of them die.”
Rachel Kaseggu knows the heartbreak of losing a child.
“I had high hopes and dreams for Clive,” Kaseggu told CBN News as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Kaseggu’s 3-year-old son Clive disappeared June 2, 2015 while playing in the backyard of their home.
“It was around 10 in the morning when we noticed he was nowhere to be found,” Kaseggu said.
CBN News met Kaseggu the day police told her what happened to her son.
“I’ve never even heard of child sacrifice, I didn’t even know what that phrase meant.”
Superstition and Desire to Get Rich Drive Child Sacrifice
Detective Emmanuel Mafundo took us to the spot, not too far from his home, where they found Clive’s remains in this pit toilet filled with human feces.
Mafundo said the key suspect turned out to be Kaseggu’s neighbor, a wealthy businessman who allegedly hired two men to kidnap and mutilate Clive’s body, believing the act would bring “good luck” to his new hotel project.
Detective Mafundo said the suspect paid the equivalent of $1,400 for Clive’s life.
“I found it so queer how someone, because of superstition, can be able to sacrifice a three-year-old kid,” Mafundo, a Uganda police superintendent told CBN News.
Child sacrifice in Uganda is such a serious and widespread problem that the government has even set up an anti-child sacrifice and human trafficking task force.
Chief investigator Moses Binoga heads up the agency.
He says that in addition to decapitation and genital mutilation, witch doctors often slice the child’s tongue and mix it with herbs for special powers.
“The tongue is used, they believe, to silence enemies,” Binoga described.
Mike Chibita is Uganda’s top law enforcement official, the equivalent of America’s Attorney General. He says superstition and the desire to get rich quick contribute to high child sacrifice rates in his country.
“The connection is that these witch doctors come and tell people who want to get rich that in order to get rich you need to sacrifice human blood,” said Chibita, who serves as Uganda’s director of public prosecutions.
Three Boys Who Survived
Best friends Kanani Nankunda, George Mukisa and Allan Ssembatya are fortunate to be alive, but bear the physical and emotional scars of their past. The three are child sacrifice survivors.
A few years back, Kanani and his seven-year-old sister were attacked in the bush.
He has a ten-inch scar on the back of his neck where the witch doctor tried to drain his blood.
“I fainted and when I regained consciousness, I found my sister dead with her head missing,” Nankunda described to us in a low voice.
Two men attacked Allan Ssembatya on his way home from school.
“I tried to scream for my parents but my voice was not strong enough for them to hear me,” Ssembatya said.
They stabbed his neck, sliced his head with a machete then castrated him. Allan remained in a coma for two months after his miraculous rescue.
George Mukisa’s mother found him lying in a pool of blood after a man castrated his privates with a blunt knife.
Doctors had to reconstruct his genitals with skin grafted from his forearm.
The boys say they encourage each other to look past their physical challenges.
“God is helping us in many different ways,” Ssembatya said. “When we think about what happened to us, we just pray and ask God that this would never happen to anybody else.”
The three boys are now under Pastor Peter’s care.
Long-Term Care for Survivors
Kyampisi Childcare Ministries is the only organization in the country providing long-term financial and medical care for survivors of child sacrifice.
“We want to see that the life of a child who has survived is supported, that they are socially able to stand and heal from the injuries, and that they can have a life after that,” said Pastor Sewakiryanga.
Screenshot – the video does not play. The original article shows the video (see ‘Source’).
He also works with Ugandan lawmakers like Komuhangi Margaret to help draft specific laws targeting perpetrators of child sacrifice.
“Every Ugandan must wake and and say, ‘No to sacrificing our children’,” said Margaret, a member of Uganda’s parliament. “Our children are the future of this country.”
Rachel Kaseggu says life without Clive will never be the same. Still, she has a message for the men who brutally murdered her 3-year-old son:
“Because of my faith in Jesus, I believe in second chances, and I would give it to them because there’s nothing I can do to bring Clive back. My message to them is: confess your sins and come to the Lord. Because when you come to the Lord, he will forgive your sins!”
On November 22, Blessing Mandabva, from Zimbabwe, shared with us his view on the history of human sacrifices as well as present-day practices of this age-old ritual. His contribution was published in The Standard, a Zimbabwean Sunday newspaper. Recently, I posted other articles with African voices protesting against this phenomenon of ritualistic murders, commonly called muti murders in Southern Africa. See the Op-Ed article in the online Namibian newspaper New Era Live, entitled: ‘Ritual killings: Cry my beloved humankind’, posted on October 27, 2020 and an older article, dating from 2011, ‘Africa: Breaking the silence in ritual killings‘, written by Fanuel Hadzizi, also from Zimbabwe and posted on November 14, 2020.
The recent turmoil in Zimbabwe, following the death of a 7-year old boy, Tawire Makore, who was murdered for muti purposes, clearly shows that the gruesome practice of human sacrifices has not disappeared. See my October 26 posting on this ritual murder that shocked Zimbabwe.
As Blessing Mandabva describes, more people have raised their voices against muti murders including Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha) president George Kandiero who distanced his association and all members from all acts of ritual killings. George Kandieo, who also mentioned the ritual murder of Tawire Makore, confirmed what I have stated repeatedly on these pages: “These ritual killings are just a tip of the iceberg (…)“.
Also the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has denounced ritually-motivated killings and issued the following statement: “The ZHRC has noted with concern the alarming rise and high frequency of ritually-motivated killings in Zimbabwe, specifically targeted at children and young people.”
What else can I add?? Read the following contribution and join the struggle against ritualistic murders and other acts based on superstition and motivated by the greed for power and/or wealth.
Warning: the following article contains graphic details of ritual murders (webmaster FVDK).
Human sacrifices, myth or reallity?
Published: November 22, 2020 By: The Standard, Zimbabwe – Blessing Mandabva
Since time immemorial, human beings the world over have pursued answers to the puzzling questions of their origins, sickness, death and after death, poverty, power, the meaning of natural phenomena such as earthquakes, diseases and accidents, among others. They have also inquired on how to protect themselves from such mysterious events. Invention of personified deities, gods and the occult sciences, witchcraft, divination and soothsaying in order to seek the protection of supernatural powers has been the order of the day. Individuals used them for protection from their enemies, to dominate others in societies be it in business, politics, churches and other religious circles to gain power and to accumulate wealth. Human sacrifice has been a phenomenon which has been passed from generation to generation albeit it appearing in various forms.
Human sacrifice is defined as the ritualised, devotedly motivated killing of human beings. It is a fundamental which is not endorsed by any state, but was once practiced by societies across the globe in the past. In this landlocked country of Zimbabwe, there is a misconception on many deaths of humans, children, women and albinos being attributed to human sacrificial rituals which are said to bring quick wealth and fortunes. Human sacrifice, especially of children, occurs frequently despite the government’s efforts to stop it. Times are tough in Zimbabwe, and people are looking for sacrifices to improve their fortunes. Hunger and starvation coupled with the purported economic meltdown which has been attributed to the economic sanctions by the ruling elite whilst those in the opposition blame the ruling elite for poor governance.
Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha) president George Kandiero distanced his association and all members from all heinous acts of ritual killings.
He, however, said those ritual killings are mainly done by witches and witchdoctors. According to Kandiero, Zinatha has some specialists who could have been involved in the case of Tapiwa Makore to give guidance in finding a lasting solution.
“It’s rather unfortunate Tapiwa is no more, but we believe the full wrath of the law will take its course. The perpetrators must be brought to book even if they are members of our associations,” said Kandiero.
”These ritual killings are just a tip of the iceberg since a lot of sacrifices in various forms are happening in the underworld.
“Those who do such are everywhere including churches, homes and workplaces and this has to be addressed for people to live in harmony.”
Reverend John Makaniko, a United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe pastor, said: “Human sacrifice is a reality though in this contemporary world it’s now rare.
“The law has abolished human sacrifice and it’s now treated as murder.” According to him, in Christianity, only Jesus Christ was sacrificed for sins of all humanity. He becomes a sacrifice once and for all [Hebrew 10:10].
“Jesus Christ becomes a sacrificial lamb for salvation of all humanity. The human sacrifice done by individuals is for selfish reasons like riches and fame. “This human sacrifice that is shedding blood of other people for selfish ends is evil, sinful and a serious crime.”
“As Christians, we are guided by the scripture’s teachings and commandments like: ‘Thou shalt not kill’ (Exodus 20:13) and our social principles say, ‘life is a sacred gift’; therefore, every human life should be treated with dignity and shouldn’t be sacrificed.
“In short, human sacrifice is a devilish act that has no place in Christianity and progressive society.”
Rev Makaniko added: “In contemporary society, faith in God and appreciating the dignity of hard work will result in success and prosperity.
“The core values of the United Methodist Church clearly state that, ‘we do good, do no harm and stay in love with God’; thus human sacrifice isn’t good because it brings harm to other people and breaks relationships with God.”
According to some South African media reports, body parts can be sold for as little as R3 000 in that country.
I recall vividly growing up in a township when public transport in the form of the commuter omnibuses had just been introduced. At that age, we were scared to death by the stories doing the rounds in the township of the disappearance of children. We were told how kids were being lured by strangers who promised them sweets.
The next thing, their bodies would be found in the bushes with body parts missing. Rumours were that businesspeople were taking the children’s heads to Durban and were trading them off for taxis, kombis and grinding mills. Another unfortunate case is that of Given Flint Matapure who disappeared at Harare Exhibition Park in August 2011. The case took ages to be finalised.
Ritual killings, or human sacrifices, are committed for the purpose of taking human body parts which are said to be used to prepare charms and other traditional medicines for spiritual fortification. In some instances, ritualists and occults target vulnerable members of society such as the poor, women, children and albinos whose families often do not have the resources to demand justice.
In some African countries there is a belief that female body parts possess supernatural powers that bring good fortune or make criminals invisible to police and other authorities. Children and young people are mostly preferred since they will be having a whole lot of life to live than the elderly.
All the success which could have happened to them will now be transferred to the ritualist as the children continue to live in the underworld. It is time governments turned up the heat on culprits and put an end to this violation of human rights.
Heavy sentences should be given to those who commission and carry out the ritual killings.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) denounced ritually-motivated killings.
“The ZHRC has noted with concern the alarming rise and high frequency of ritually-motivated killings in Zimbabwe, specifically targeted at children and young people,” the ZHRC statement read.
“The heinous murder and mutilation of innocent people is disheartening and should be denounced in the strongest terms by our society and nation as a whole.”
ZHRC also stated that participation in ritual killings violates Sections 48 (1), the universal human right to life, of the Constitution and other sections of international agreements on rights to human life, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The rights body called for a collective effort among authorities to end the ritual killings and urged police to undergo further training to adequately deal with issues of human rights violations.
In July 2015, a four-year old pupil from St Lucy Primary School in the Kombo area of Insiza district in Matabeleland South province was found dead with her lips, liver and other body parts missing in a suspected case of ritual murder. Her body was found mutilated in a pond. The incident struck fear into villagers who indicated that they suspected the child was killed for ritual purposes. They started escorting their children to and from school.
Legislator Pupurai Togarepi has moved a motion on the proliferation of chilling incidents of murder indicating that victims of such heinous crimes are the vulnerable and unsuspecting members of society, mostly women and children.
In another bizarre suspected ritual killing in June 2020, a 25-year-old woman, Thabelo Mazolo, had her body mutilated and stashed into a drum filled with acid in Bulawayo. Part of the body, from the waist going down, was missing while breasts and palms appeared to have been sliced off. The ritualist murder had message from a sangoma with instructions to perform on the body, it reads “you must cut yourself and spill your blood onto a mirror. Gaze into the mirror and say out loud that you are selling your soul for riches.”
The practice of ritual killing and human sacrifice continues to take place in several African countries in contravention of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and other human rights instruments. In this 21st century, human beings are still being hunted down, mutilated, murdered or sacrificed for ritual purposes across the region.
Several cases of kidnapping and disappearance of persons are traced to the vicious schemes and activities of ritualists. Ritualists hunt for blood and harvest human body parts to prepare charms and magical concoctions. In some cases desperate ritualists invade cemeteries and exhume dead bodies to extract body parts, said one anonymous source.
Many cases of ritual sacrifice take place in secret locations. They are largely unreported, not investigated and go unpunished. The perpetrators and their collaborators capitalise on the prevalent irrational fear of the supernatural among Africans, and the poor and corrupt policing and justice system, to get away with these egregious violations.
Victims of ritual sacrifice are mostly minors nd vulnerable individuals who do not live to seek justice or redress or who lack the resources to seek redress if ever they survive the ordeal.
Human sacrifice is real, it is neither fallacious, frivolous nor fiction. It is a cancer which needs urgent attention and collective efforts by all stakeholders from grassroots level before it is normalised by satanic and evil forces in our societies.
Another development in the sad saga of the ritualistic murder of the young, 7-year old Tapiwa Makore. It must be said that local authorities and notably the local police acted swiftly after the discovery of the victims’ mutilated body, on September 18. Even President Mnangagwa reacted on the muthi (muti) murder, condemning the heinous crime on September 25 (see my posting dated October 2, 2020).
It is believed by superstitious, wicked people that body parts which have been taken – from a living victim (!) – and processed in a particular way, by a traditional healer or witchdoctor (n’anga), that these ritualistic activities will enhance one’s power or wealth.
There is no place for such superstition and disrespect for human life in the year 2020 (or before that year). The rule of law must apply, suspects should be put on trial and judged by an independent judge. And more prevention should take place: through education.
Warning: The following articles contain graphic details of the cruel murder (webmaster FVDK).
Murehwa ritual murder: Police quiz n’anga
Asst Comm Paul Nyathi
Published: October 16, 2020 By: The Herald, Zimbabwe – Investigations Editor
POLICE have picked up a traditional healer for questioning over the missing head of the seven-year-old Murehwa boy, Tapiwa Makore, suspected to have been murdered for ritual purposes.
Body parts taken in a ritual murder which occurred at Makore Village under Chief Mangwende, would have to be processed in particular ways, the superstitious believe, so that they bring good fortune and riches.
Police started hunting for the traditional healer they believed was implicated in this killing soon after they arrested the two men they suspect were the actual killers.
Only a torso and legs were recovered from the dismembered body, but the head is still missing.
In their investigations, police recovered the head of another child, a 12-year-old, in the same village, but think it may have been exhumed from a grave.
Although the police did not disclose the name of the traditional healer, they confirmed he was being questioned.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police have established that they had been given a lot of misleading information on the death of the boy and people were hiding crucial information.
“We have realised that some people are not telling the truth and they are hiding crucial information. But we will surely get to the bottom of the matter and the truth will come out,” said Asst-Comm Nyathi.
Tapiwa was allegedly murdered for ritual purposes by his uncle Tapiwa Makore (Senior) who used his own domestic worker, Tafadzwa Shamba (40).
The boy was kidnapped in the family garden in the village.
Shamba, a herdsman, and the boy’s uncle have since been arrested and taken to court facing murder charges.
They now await trial while in remand prison. They were remanded in custody to October 26 in absentia yesterday, as they are still assisting police with investigations.
Meanwhile, police have taken the head of a 12-year-old child recently found in the same village for forensic analysis.
There has been no report of another missing child in that age group, creating room for suspicion that the head could have been exhumed from a grave.
“The other head found in Makore village is now subject to forensic analysis. So far no report of a missing person falling in that category has been received by the police. We are still investigating that matter,” said Asst-Comm Nyathi.
During investigations, Shamba recently told detectives he killed the boy by cutting off the head with a knife in the dead of the night, while the boy’s uncle was holding a torch.
Shamba said after the alleged murder, he carried a black plastic bag containing the head and the dismembered body while his employer, who is the boy’s uncle, carried another bag containing the arms and legs.
He led the team of detectives to the uncle’s homestead where he said he fed the boy, drugged him with kachasu and locked him up in a room for hours.
Shamba said he met the boy’s uncle around midnight and took the boy to a nearby mountain, where they allegedly killed him.
“Around midnight, we opened the door and I carried the boy, who was still in deep slumber to a mountain in the village. Mr Makore carried the knives and the plastic bags. While here (in the mountain), I pressed the boy to the ground and cut off his head with a sharp knife, while his uncle was holding a torch for lighting.
“I also cut off the hands and legs, but we packed the parts in different plastic bags. I carried the one with the torso and the head while Mr Makore carried another one containing the legs and hands,” he said.
At the scene, investigators saw human waste, believed to have been excreted by the boy during the murder.
Shamba told detectives that he cleaned the scene of the blood and set the grass on fire to destroy evidence.
He said while walking back to Makore’s homestead, he felt the load was becoming heavier before dumping the torso near Mr Summer Murwira’s homestead.
While at Makore’s homestead, Shamba said he was instructed to put the head in one of the rooms, which he did.
The following day, Shamba said he dumped the arms and legs at a nearby grave as police investigations were intensifying.
Pastor Charles Charamba Speaks Out On Murehwa Ritual Killing
Pastor Charles Charamba
Published: October 14, 2020 By: iHarare, Zimbabwe – Audrey L. Ncube
Gospel musician Pastor Charles Charamba has condemned the killing of children for ritual purposes. The condemnation comes in the wake of the murder of a seven-year-old Murehwa boy, Tapiwa Makore, for ritual purposes, allegedly by his uncle.
In an interview with Hmetro, Pastor Charamba decried the loss of young children as a result of heinous and evil actions for rituals and witchcraft purposes.
“The disappointing aspect in this account of Tapiwa from Murewa is that those men that wanted to be rich, wanted to be rich during this lockdown knowing that everyone in the world has been impoverished.
“They were led by that need to be rich when everything else around the world is stagnant, that is very evil,” Pastor Charamba said.
Pastor Charamba revealed that he is pained by the unfortunate killing of Tapiwa Makore for ritual purposes. He emphasized how the Bible talks about the sacredness of life.
“For me as a pastor, it is very unfortunate that we lost Tapiwa and others of his age but I am saying that life is sacred.
He explained it is painful and unfortunate that these killings are done by people very close to the children. He called on guardians to keep children safe and not to fall under the influence of superstition as it is an enemy of society.
“It is something that is very sad and very unfortunate because it is being done by people who are supposed to be trusted custodians of the children. They abuse their offices and also abuse their relationships with their victims.
“We are hoping that the Almighty guides us so that our society changes and improves when it comes to issues that have to do with trust.
“Above all, the way in which we people want money nowadays is not a good way at all and this is also being caused by what is known as superstition because what people usually regard as worshipping is not actually worshipping,” he said.
Murehwa Ritual Murder Details Emerge… Victim’s Uncle Wanted To Use Body Parts To Get Rich And For Horticulture Project
Tapiwa Makore Senior
Published: October 1, 2020 By: iHarare, Zimbabwe – Sharon Chirisa
Murehwa Ritual Murder Details… Victim’s Uncle Wanted To Get Rich
The senseless murder of 7 year old Tapiwa Makore from Makore Village under Chief Mangwende, in Murehwa, left the whole country with a bitter taste in their mouths.
The whole country is still recovering from the heinous crime and never has been the pursuit of justice been swift and urgent before.
Tapiwa Makore was abducted while he was watching over his family’s garden from thieving monkeys, only for his mutilated corpse to turn up the next day, being ravaged by the Makore neighbors’ oblivious dogs.
A breakthrough emerged in the case, after the cattle herdman, Tafadzwa Shamba was arrested in connection with the murder, eventually leading to Tapiwa’s namesake and uncle, as being the mastermind behind the cold blooded killing.
The police were correct in treating it as a ritual murder, because that is what it turned out to be after further investigations.
Ritual murders are often accompanied by mutilation and the dismemberment of certain body parts which are believed to be the main ingredients for spells, this mostly includes the head, private parts, tongue and sometimes the eyes and limbs.
The reason behind Tapiwa Makore’s murder is more shocking like the murder itself.
According to state broadcaster reports earlier this week, his uncle had him killed because he wanted to increase his wealth and boost his horticulture project using dark magic.
Tapiwa Makore’s other body parts were taken to a yet to be identified witch doctor, who would then perform the spell.
Even more chilling was the fact that Tapiwa Makore Senior stood by, holding a torch for illumination, as Tafadzwa Shamba was murdering his nephew.
Tapiwa Makore’s final hours must have been frightening and lonely as he was detained in the home of the man who was not only a trusted family member, but his namesake as well.
The boy was restrained, drugged using an illicit brew of alcohol and then taken to a mountain in the night where he was decapitated and mutilated.
His uncle Tapiwa Makore Snr , initially denied the accusations but an arrest was made.
Makore and Shamba are currently remanded in custody, awaiting trial on the 13th of October 2020.
The stain of his death is one that will linger on in the psyches of many.
In Uganda ritual murder of children is rampant and in many cases witchdoctors are involved in these cruel crimes. It is shocking to read that with an estimated 3 million traditional ‘healers’ or witchdoctors, hundreds of Ugandan children are kidnapped and murdered for ritualistic purposes. Human sacrifice is a thriving business (see below).
The good news is that also in Uganda there are people fighting against these medieval practices, based on superstition, ignorance and facilitated by the lack of rule of law in this country where President Museveni clings desperately to power. He rules increasingly with an iron fist, after initially being welcomed as a liberator, in the 1980s. Respect for human rights in Uganda is a mockery as long as barbaric practices such as human sacrifices continue to exist.
Warning: the following articles contain graphic details of gruesome practices and crimes (webmaster FVDK).
Boy Sacrificed by Muslim Shaman in Uganda Where Child Sacrifice Is Big Business
A Ugandan police officer holds a “No Child Sacrifice sign.” (Image credit: CBN News)
Published: September 30, 2020 By: CBN News – Steve Warren – George Thomas
A disturbing report out of Uganda is the latest confirmation of an evil practice that CBN News first reported about years ago.
A 13-year-old Christian girl and her 11-year-old brother were reportedly abducted by a radical Muslim woman two years ago and sold to a witchdoctor for ritual sacrifice.
Morning Star News (MSN) reports Sulaiman Pulisi, a former imam who became a Christian three years ago, said in July 2018 his daughter, then 13, and his then-11-year-old son, Abdulmajidu, disappeared from their home in eastern Uganda’s Kachiribong village, Kasasira Town in Kibuku District.
Local police rescued Pulisi’s daughter from a house owned by a Muslim witchdoctor or shaman named Isifu Abdullah’s on Sept. 16.
“We are mourning for our son who is alleged to have been sacrificed,” Pulisi told Morning Star. “We are mourning with my daughter, who has been used as a sex object by the Muslim shaman.”
Law enforcement authorities later discovered Sania Muhammad, a Muslim woman living in Kasasira located in eastern Uganda, and two others had sold the two children to the witchdoctor in reprisal for their father’s conversion to Christianity.
Police believe Abdullah offers human sacrifices as part of his witchcraft activities, according to MSN. Both the witchdoctor and the woman were arrested in the boy’s disappearance and are awaiting charges.
There are an estimated 3 million traditional “healers,” or witchdoctors, in Uganda. As CBN News has reported, hundreds of Ugandan children are kidnapped and murdered as part of a thriving human sacrifice business.
CBN News Goes Undercover to Search for Child Killers
In 2017, CBN News Sr. International Correspondent George Thomas joined undercover detectives, armed police, and a pastor hunting for a witch doctor accused of kidnapping and killing children.
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga leads the search. He runs Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, a Christian effort to stamp out child sacrifice in Uganda. He describes the witch doctors’ brutal ritual.
“When they get the child, most times they cut the neck, they take the blood out, they take the tissue, they cut the genitals or any other body organs that they wish that the spirits want.”
Pastor Peter says these gruesome crimes happen almost every month.
“The problem is increasing and many children are killed, and there are very few actually that survive, most of them die.”
Child sacrifice in Uganda is such a serious and widespread problem that the government has even set up an anti-child sacrifice and human trafficking task force. (italics added by the webmaster).
Superstition and Money
Mike Chibita is Uganda’s top law enforcement official, the equivalent of America’s Attorney General. He says superstition and the desire to get rich quick contribute to high child sacrifice rates in his country.
“The connection is that these witch doctors come and tell people who want to get rich that in order to get rich you need to sacrifice human blood,” said Chibita, who serves as Uganda’s director of public prosecutions.
Kyampisi Childcare Ministries is the only organization in the country providing long-term financial and medical care for survivors of child sacrifice attempts.
“We want to see that the life of a child who has survived is supported, that they are socially able to stand and heal from the injuries, and that they can have a life after that,” said Pastor Sewakiryanga.
He also works with Ugandan lawmakers like Komuhangi Margaret to help draft specific laws targeting perpetrators of child sacrifice.
“Every Ugandan must wake and say, ‘No to sacrificing our children’,” said Margaret. “Our children are the future of this country.”
The articles reproduced below show the perversity of ritual murders in Nigeria, usually for purposes of ‘money rituals’. Ritual murderers, who resort to human sacrifices to become rich or famous, are criminals, there is no doubt about it. What happens nowadays in Nigeria, and also in other Sub-Saharan countries where notably albino people are targeted, shows even a different kind of ritual murderers. They kill purely for material gain, to sell human body parts thus obtained. A repulsive practice, which in this case is based on the superstition of the buyer of the body parts. A crucial role is played by the ritualist or traditional doctor, the witch doctor, as is shown by the articles below. They should all be locked up, but – even more important – people should be educated that there is no place for superstition in the 21st century. (webmaster FVDK)
How I killed children, sold their body parts to ritualists – Suspect confesses
Published: July 3, 2020 By: Daily Post Nigeria – Fikayo Owololagba
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Oyo State Command, has arrested a 29-year-old, suspect over alleged kidnapping and murder.
The suspect was arrested after the police received a tip-off from commercial motorcycle riders around the area.
The command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Olufemi Adetunji, disclosed this to newsmen on Friday, at the NIS office, Agodi-Gate, Ibadan, while handing over the suspect to the police command in the state.
The suspect whose identity was not revealed in an interview with NAN confessed that he was not only involved in duping, but also in kidnapping and selling of human parts to ritualists.
He confessed that he enticed children with biscuits on the streets and lured them into their cars.
The suspect, a resident of Beere, Oje area in Ibadan was a member of a gang of nine, comprised of two females and seven males that carry out operations.
He added that he had killed at least two children, and sold their parts to suspected ritualists.
“We have a car which we use for kidnapping. We buy biscuits and other things and keep them in the car, which we used to entice the children.
“Anytime we see little children walking on the road unaccompanied by an adult, we entice them with biscuits and quickly put them in the car and zoom off.
“We later kill the kidnapped children and sell their parts to the ritualists,” he added.
‘We kill children, sell their body parts’ – suspect confesses as he was arrested by Immigration officer
Published: July 3, 2020 By: Opera News
The Nigerian Immigration services has arrested a 29-year-old suspect, Lekan Raheem, for killing and selling children’s body parts to ritualists. After his arrest, the suspects confessed that his gang had killed some children and sold their body parts for ritual purposes. According to the suspect, the Ritualist require the body parts for ritual purposes.
The suspect made the confession to the Nigerian Immigration services after being interogated. After the confession, he was handed over to the police. According to the confessional statement of the suspect, him and his gang usually lure innocent children with biscuits and kidnapped them.
The suspect confessed that he was not only involved in duping people, but he also kidnapped, kill and selling human parts to ritualists. According to reports, the suspect lives at Oje area of Ibadan. The gang members includes 9 members including 2 females and 7 males.
The suspect went on to say that anytime his gang members see little children walking alone, they lure them with biscuits. The children are quickly dragged into their car and they quickly take them away. The Oyo State Nigerian Immigration services Public Relations Officer, Olufemi Adetunji disclosed that the suspect was arrested following a tip off by some people.
A few days ago I posted an article on the ritual murder of Gracia Prunelle, a young girl in Benin. Knowing that it was not the first ritualistic murder in Benin’s contemporary history (see my previous postings on this site), I went browsing on the internet and came across this article describing an upsurge in ritual killing and ritualistic acts in this West Africa in 2018. The author concludes her article with an alarming cry: despite the increase of these heinous acts, inspired by superstition, the authorities remain silent…. One wonders why….
For the convenience of readers who do not understand Frenchch, a brief summary in English follows here. The translation is the sole responsibility of this site’s webmaster who does not claim to present an exact and precise translation of the VOA article which is subsequently presented in is original version.
Summary:
“An increase in the number of ritual murders terrifies Benin. Missing people have been found in deserted houses and in the forest, sometimes they have vanished, ‘never heard of again’. Behind this phenomenon are witch doctors, people whisper.
A few days ago, a young girl was raped and almost murdered but she was rescued by the police. It happened near Porto Novo, the country’s capital.
The suspect’s house was searched, and police found a human skill as well as organs of some of the victims.
Joël Akondé, a journalist testifies. His brother was the victim of a ritual murder. “He was murdered in a savage and cruel way”, he stated on VOA radio (Afrique radio services). His brother was found back with his throat cut and his blood taken by his murderers.
These ritualistic crimes are committed by internet-criminals, nicknamed ‘gaymen’, who want to impress girls who subsequently become the victim of their unscrupulous assailants.
Some allege these crimes are caused by the widespread unemployment and social pressure.
The ‘keepers of tradition’ have been accused of complicity since they are the ones who teach the youth the secrets of their convent. David Coffi Aza, a well-known keeper of the tradition and Fa priest defends himself. “Voodoo cannot cure, it does not harm” he says, “it’s a neutral force.”
In view of the large scale of these atrocities the silence of the authorities is very worrisome.”, Ginette Fleure Adandé reports from Benin.
Translation by the webmaster (FVDK)
Upsurge in ritualistic crimes in Benin
Recrudescence des crimes rituels au Bénin
The community of keepers of tradition and indigenous religion in Benin (translation FVDK) La communauté des gardiens de la tradition et de la religion endogène au Bénin, le 22 février 2018. (VOA/Ginette Fleure Adande)
Le Bénin connaît une montée des crimes “rituels”. Des êtres humains portés disparus sont retrouvés sans vie dans des maisons inhabitées ou dans la brousse.Parfois, ils ne réapparaissent jamais. Ce phénomène serait l’œuvre des nombreux féticheurs autoproclamés qui passent par ces sacrifices pour asseoir leur hégémonie.
Il y a quelques jours, une jeune fille violée et sur le point d’être sacrifiée a été sauvée de la mort par les forces de l’ordre. Cela s’est passé à quelques kilomètres de Porto Novo, la capitale.
“Vers 3 heures du matin, le conseil de sécurité m’a expliqué qu’une fille de 12 ans a été violée”, raconte Michel Bahou, maire de la commune.
Il a ôté la vie à bien de personnes. Au cours de la perquisition à son domicile, des crânes humains et autres organes ont été retrouvés.
Lors de son audition, il a fait des révélations comme l’explique Joël Akondé, un journaliste dont le son jeune frère a été égorgé et vidé de son sang.
“Il a été sauvagement assassiné, égorgé”, confie-t-il à VOA Afrique.
Ces crimes rituels seraient l’œuvre de cybercriminels communément appelés “gaymen”; les nouveaux modèles de réussite sociale qui se servent de leurs richesses pour attirer les jeunes filles, souvent victimes de ces morts violentes.
Le phénomène serait aussi causé par l’inégalité sociale et un chômage accru.
Devant la barbarie des meurtres, les gardiens de la tradition sont souvent montrés du doigt comme étant complices de ce dérapage; pour avoir mis dans les mains des jeunes sans scrupules les secrets de leurs couvents.
Sur la question David Coffi Aza, gardien de la tradition et prêtre du Fâ connu sous le nom géomancie, se défend.
“Aucun vaudou ne peut faire du bien ou du mal, c’est une énergie neutre”, soutient-il.
Face à l’ampleur du phénomène, le silence des autorités est inquiétant.
David Coffi Aza, keeper of tradition and Fâ priest, Benin, February 22, 2018 (translation FVDK) David Coffi Aza, gardien de la tradition et prêtre du Fâ, Bénin, 22 février 2018. (VOA/Ginette Fleure Adande)
Also see my posts dated August 30, 2018 – “Get rid of this evil”: High Court judge calls govt to ban all shrines in Uganda – and August 20, 2018 – We wanted wealth!’ Four witch doctors arrested over ritual murders tell Police and and more articles – on the ritual murders in Kayunga District (webmaster FVDK).
Published: November 12, 2019 By: Jalira Namyalo
One of the persons implicated in ritual killing and burial of five people in a shrine in Kisoga Village, Nazigo Sub-county in Kayunga District has been sentenced to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty. Joseph Kibuuka, alias Junior, pleaded guilty to murder charges but court reduced the charge to being an accessory to the murder under the plea bargain process.
After the sentencing, Kibuuka turned into a prosecution witness. He entered the witness box and testified against the five other accused persons with whom he had been indicted for murder of five people among them Zulaika Nansamba Mirembe.
Other suspects are Ssebuyungo alias Owen Sonko (witchdoctor/ herbalist); Muhammad Wamala alias Vincent Bob; James Lutwama; Fred Kiiza Ssemanda and Issa Walakira.
In his testimony, Kibuuka said the deceased Mirembe came to Ssebuyungo’s shrine one evening in May and they had a meal with her and Wamala in a trading centre before going back to Ssebuyungo’s shrine.
“At around 9pm, we (Wamala, Mirembe and Barbara, a sister of Ssebuyungo) drove back and they dropped me at my place near Ssebuyungo’s shrine. Wamala told me not to close the door because he was to sleep at my place but he did not come. In the morning when I went to clean the shrine, I found a fresh grave and did not see Mirembe. I was scared and feared to say anything,” Kibuuka narrated. According to Kibuuka, after sometime Ssebuyungo and Wamala had disagreements which prompted Wamala to report a case of murder to police.
He said it is Wamala who trained Ssebuyungo in witchcraft but could not tell how other bodies were buried in the same shrine. He said he worked at the shrine for few months as a cleaner.
Published: April 25, 2013 By: Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Four men have been handed a 45-year jail term after being found guilty of killing a 12-year-old girl in a ritual sacrifice in Kyankwanzi District.
The men were convicted by Justice Faith Mwondha.
A special High Court session sitting in Kiboga District was convinced beyond doubt that Mande Wanyama, Richard Katumba, Joseph Muganga and Fred Kaliisa, a witchdoctor; killed Sylvia Kangume. Court heard that on March 20, 2009 at Ntunda village in Nsambya Sub-county in Kyankwanzi District, the four men murdered Kangume who was a pupil at Ntunda Primary School.
The child’s mutilated body was found dumped in a bush with some body parts missing. A police sniffer dog led cops to Kaliisa’s shrine at Nalukonge village where body parts and blood were discovered. During the trial, prosecution led by Ms Immaculate Aguntoko presented four witnesses including Ms Faridah Kemirembe, the deceased’s mother and Geoffrey Onen, a government expert who pinned the convicts.
Mr Onen, a government laboratory analyst told court that DNA tests proved that the blood found at the shrine matched with blood samples that were taken from Kangume’s body.
Justice Mwondha said children who are being targeted by such criminals need protection. She said the sentence would send a signal to other potential offenders that they would be harshly punished.
The murder of Kangume in 2009 drew the attention of Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura, the Inspector General of Police who camped in the area for four days and took charge of the investigations.
He also ordered the arrest of Mr Joseph Tukamushaba, the then Officer in Charge of Kigando Police Post after policeman was accused of attempting to frustrate investigations.
A teenage albino boy has reportedly been killed and dismembered in Burundi. An albino rights group said the 15-year-old’s body was found late on Saturday, according to the AFP news agency. “The young albino was killed atrociously … his murderers cut his right leg off at the knee, his right arm and his tongue,” said Kassim Kazungu, the head of Albinos Without Borders.
Previous albino killings in the African country have been linked to people practising witchcraft. More than 20 albino people have been killed in Burundi since 2008. (iitalics added by the webmaster FVDK)
In 2016 a five-year-old albino girl was kidnapped from her home by gunmen. The child’s dismembered body was discovered shortly afterwards. (Also see my October 4, 2018 posting).
Burundi’s government has banned witch doctors who claim to perform spells and charms using albino body parts to bring good luck and wealth. But in some areas a complete albino skeleton is worth as much as $75,000 (£62,000), according to the Red Cross.
Around 500 albino people live in Burundi.
Officials believe killings are carried out by local residents who work with witch doctors in neighbouring Tanzania, where 53 albino people have been killed since 2007 for their body parts. (italics added by the webmaster FVDK).
There are around 170,000 albino people living in Tanzania.
Related article: Albino teen found dismembered in Burundi
Published: August 19, 2019 By: Agence France-Presse
NAIROBI, Kenya – A 15-year-old albino boy has been found dismembered in Burundi a week after going missing, the first such killing in the country in three years, a local albino group said Sunday.
Albinos, who have white skin and yellow hair as a result of a genetic disorder that causes the absence of pigmentation, are killed regularly in some African countries for their body parts, which are used in witchcraft rituals.
The teenager was found dead late Saturday in the northwest of the country along the Rusizi river separating Burundi from the DR Congo, not far from his home village.
“The young albino was killed atrociously… His murderers cut his right leg off at the knee, his right arm and his tongue,” said Kassim Kazungu, the head of the local association Albinos Without Borders.
More than 20 albinos have been killed in Burundi since 2008, with the last case in 2016 when a five-year-old girl was found dismembered after being taken from her home.
Kazungu said a four-year-old albino boy had been missing since October 2018 from the village of Cendajuri near the Tanzanian border, but that he had “no hope” of finding him alive.
Some experts believe the demand for albino body parts in Tanzania — where such attacks are the most prevalent — has fueled such killings in border areas.
