Reportedly, there are 62 murderers on the death row in Zimbabwe. If the Death Abolition Bill will be passed, their death penalty will be commuted to life in prison.
Last month Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s declared an amnesty by announcing his decision to commute the death sentences of prisoners at Zimbabwe’s maximum prisons to life imprisonment.
The last time that the death penalty was executed in Zimbabwe was in 2005. (FVDK)
Public hearing dates set for Death Penalty Abolition Bill, week after Mnangagwa “saves” prisoners on roll
Published: May 3, 2024 By: Leopold Muntende
ZIMBABWEANS will, between May 6 and 10, be given an opportunity to share their views on the Death Penalty Abolition Bill in public hearings to be held across the country’s ten provinces.
Although independent of his decision, the hearings follow President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s recent decision to commute the death sentences of prisoners at Zimbabwe’s maximum prisons to life imprisonment in an amnesty announced last month.
According to the government, 62 people were on death row.
In February, Cabinet approved the principles to the Death Penalty Abolition Bill that seek to abolish capital punishment.
Committee on Human Rights have jointly announced a series of public hearings to discuss the death penalty,” said Parliament.
“These hearings aim to engage stakeholders, gather perspectives and guide potential legal reforms regarding three Bills currently before Parliament.”
Although Zimbabwe’s last execution was in 2005, the death sentence has, however, continued to be passed.
The Zimbabwean constitution allows for imposition of the death penalty in cases involving murder committed under aggravating circumstances and only on men between 21 and 70 years of age.
Cabinet’s decision to approve the principles of the Bill provoked discussions online with some arguing capital punishment must be maintained while citing cases such as that of Tapiwa Makore (7) whose head was hacked off by his uncle (Tapiwa Makore Snr) in a ritual killing that shocked the country in 2020.
Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International however declared the move progressive: “Zimbabwe has taken the right step towards ending this abhorrent and inhuman form of punishment that has no place in our world.”
The public hearings will also discuss the Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Children and Young Persons) Bill “which aims to bring the law on sexual offences against minors into line with the Constitution” and the Administration of Estates Amendment Bill, “which seeks to restructure the office of the Master of the High Court.”
The schedule is copied below;
Team A:
Dates: From May 6 to May 10, 2024
Locations:
May 6, 2024: Kadoma Rimuka Hall
May 7, 2024: Gweru Mkoba Hall
May 8, 2024: Bulawayo Selborne Hotel
May 9, 2024: Lupane Community Hall
May 10, 2024: Filabusi Avoka
Team B:
Locations:
May 6, 2924: Tendai Hall, Bindura
May 7, 2024: Stodart Hall, Mbare
May 8, 2024: Mbuya Nehanda Hall, Marondera
May 9, 2024: Dangamvura Beit Hall
May 10, 2024: Masvingo Civic Center Hall, Masvingo
“Perhaps it is time to debate whether there are situations that require the death penalty” – says Miriam Wangadya, chairperson Human Rights Commission Uganda.
The chairperson of the Human Rights Commission Uganda, Miriam Wangadya, is devastated and despairing. The gruesome ritualistic killing of innocent victims often young children is heartbreaking, she says. The mutilated bodies found are disgusting witnesses of a violent death.
She cites a number of well-known recent ritual murder cases including the ritual murder of a four-year old girl in Jinja district in 2021 and the ritualistic murder of two young girls, sisters, by their mother, also in Jinja district in 2023. Statistics release by Uganda National Police indicate that ritualistic sacrifices are on a steady increase from 22 cases in 2019, to 45 in 2020, to 46 in 2021 and 72 in 2022.
The chair of the Human Rights Commission Uganda makes a plea for harsher punishment.
Since Uganda observes a moratorium on the death penalty she suggests to have a national debate whether indeed there are situations which require the death penalty. The law must take its full force, she argues, and murderers who kill innocent and helpless children deserve the capital punishment. Punishment should match the crime. A stern message is to be sent out that murder in al its forms is totally unacceptable and is met with the strongest deterrent, she insists.
But will the capital punishment, ‘an eye for an eye’, really act as a deterrent for the greedy and ruthless criminals who are willing to sacrifice the life of a human being for more money, power, or prestige? (FVDK)
Murderers of innocent children deserve harsher punishment
Shocking news from Zimbabwe, as reported by a national news site: ritual murders in the country are on the rise – allegedly.
Whereas the occurrence of ritualistic murders, locally often referred to as ‘muti murders’, is not in doubt – as demonstrated by the numerous cases reported on the present site, you may consult the dropdown menu ‘African countries’ to access all posts on Zimbabwe – it is nevertheless shocking to hear that there is an apparent recent surge in the number of these cruel crimes. As you may know, the organs or body parts ‘needed’ for ‘muti‘ have to be harvested from a living person.
One would think that the Tapiwa Makore murder case and the sentencing to death of his convicted murderers, his uncle and an accomplice, would deter potential perpetrators of muti related murders. According to recent newspaper reports, this is not the case.
A psychotherapist consulted (see the article below) points to mental illness as a significant factor behind these gruesome murders. I’ve often asked myself the same question: What makes someone a ritualistic murderer? Certainly, more research needs to be done as to why people ‘cross a border’ and decide to kill another human being – in a cruel way – as a means to ‘get rich quick’, to have success in business or to gain a certain (often political) position. Is it superstition? Is it a criminal mind? Selfishness? Greed? Or are ritualistic murderers mentally disturbed persons who should be treated for their ‘illness’ in stead of punished – death by hanging or a long prison sentence?
Asking the question means answering it.
Who knows the answer? (webmaster FVDK)
Zimbabwe: Ritual Killings Rise
Is the capital punishment a deterrent for potential ritualistic killers?
Published: February 3, 2024 By: ZimEye, Zimbabwe
A disturbing trend is sweeping across the nation, as reports of suspected ritual murders are on the rise, leaving communities in shock and children as primary targets of these heinous acts.
The superstitious belief that killing individuals in a specific manner, particularly involving torture and processing certain body parts, can create and maintain wealth is contributing to an alarming increase in brutal killings, leaving many with unanswered questions.
The resurgence of ritual killings has prompted concerns and calls for action from various quarters.
Traditional healer Sekuru Banda, dismissing the superstitions, condemns those who propagate such beliefs, emphasizing the need for hard work instead of seeking easy money through horrific means. Banda urges a change in mindsets, highlighting the dangers of people being led astray in pursuit of illusory wealth.
To gain further insights, a news crew sought the perspective of psychotherapist Dr. Mertha Nyamande, who points to mental illness as a significant factor behind gruesome murders.
Dr. Nyamande explains that many offenders, especially those involved in removing body parts, may suffer from mental ailments or psychopathy, challenging the notion that these acts are rooted in ritualistic beliefs. From a legal standpoint, Mr. Moffat Makuvatsine sheds light on how the law addresses ritual killings.
While there is no specific provision for such crimes, they can be treated as murder committed under aggravating circumstances, potentially carrying the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The legal expert emphasizes that any murder proved to have ulterior motives may result in severe penalties. Recent cases, including the tragic death of Tapiwa Makore, have brought the issue of ritual killings to the forefront.
Tapiwa’s killers, his uncle Tapiwa Senior and Tafadzwa Shamba, were sentenced to death for their involvement in the gruesome crime.
However, the scourge continues, with a recent incident in Guruve involving the brutal murder of a three-year-old, whose body was decapitated and burnt, with missing body parts.
The perpetrators of this heinous act remain at large, underscoring the urgency for a concerted effort from law enforcement and communities to address and eradicate the deeply troubling surge in ritual killings.
As the nation grapples with this distressing epidemic, there is a pressing need for comprehensive strategies that include education, mental health awareness, and stringent legal measures to curb the prevalence of such horrific crimes.
Human sacrifice is a widespread phenomenon in Uganda while some specific regions are notoriously known for their ritualistic killings. Yesterday, November 5, I posted an article on the sentencing of a man from Mayunge District who had killed his son for personal gain in 2017, and the day before, on November 4, I posted an article on a mother in the Kiira region who had killed two of her children, also for ritual purposes. These are not isolated cases as the following demonstrates.
Two witchdoctors in the Kamuli District were arrested earlier this year, suspected of a ritual child sacrifice while in Luwero District on January 7 an 8-year boy was kidnapped from his family’s courtyard and found back without head, fingers and toes. In November 2022 two men from Kayunga District were found guilty of child sacrifice committed in 2009. Within Uganda the Kayunga District has earned the dubious reputation of being one of the most notorious killing places.
Kayunga District shares this reputation with the Kiira region (Wakisi District, Central Region). The most recent ritual murder case in this region is the one reported above but also in August 2022 a man and his wife in Jinja District were arrested for killing their child in a ritual practice. In May 2021 police in Kayunga District had to protect a man from a mob threatening to kill him after he had allegedly killed two of his children for rituals purposes.
In July 2022 a spike was reported in human sacrifices. I’m afraid that the child sacrifice and other ritual murder cases mentioned in this report (see my July 11 posting) and the above mentioned murders are just the tip of the iceberg. After all, it is only logical to assume that not all ritual killing cases are being discovered or reported. An unknown number of children or elderly people, victims of ritualistic practices, may have disappeared without leaving traces.
Since 2021 convicted ritual murderers in Uganda may face the death penalty. In May parliament enacted the Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill, 2020, which includes the capital punishment or life imprisonment for any person found guilty of human sacrifice. The bill inspired me to some reflections – see my May 7 posting.
Since the enactment of the bill a number of convicted ritual murderers have been sentenced to heavy sentences and many years in prison, but the ugly phenomenon has not been eradicated. It’s a sad reality.
The murder for ritual purposes of Favour Daley-Oladela in 2019 led to much unrest as well as a wave of articles on the terror of so-called ‘money rituals’ in Nigeria. For briefness sake I may refer here to my posting of January 9, 2020 ‘A selection of articles on the ritual murder of Favour Daley-Oladele, Nigeria’.
As a reminder I will recall what basically happened on the fateful day in December 2019 when the innocent university student was brutally murdered. Favour Daley-Oladele, a final year student of Lagos State University (LASU), was murdered and partly cannibalized for a ritualistic motive, a ‘money ritual’, by her boyfriend Owolabi Adeeko, aided by Philip Segun, a white garment church pastor and his mother, Mrs. Bola Adeeko.
Last month, a High Court found both men guilty of conspiracy and murder and sentenced them to death by hanging for murder (Owolabi Adeeko) and 14 years imprisonment (Philip Segun) for conspiracy. The court also found Bola, Owolabi’s mother, guilty of eating human flesh and sentenced her to two years imprisonment.
Read the full article below. Warning: the article may upset readers because of its shocking and graphic contents. (FVDK)
The long arm of justice, after three years, finally caught up with killers and eaters of Favour Daley-Oladele, a final year student of Lagos State University, brutally murdered and used for “victory soup” ritual concoction by her boyfriend, Owolabi Adeeko, and a prophet, Segun Philip.
Last month, a High Court found Owolabi and Segun guilty of conspiracy and murder and sentenced them to death by hanging for murder and 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy.
The court also found Bola, Owolabi’s mother, guilty of eating human flesh and sentenced her to two years imprisonment.
Favour, a student of Theatre Arts, was in a final semester and at home to meet her parents before Owolabi put a call to her to meet him, so they could meet his uncle at Ikoyi in Isokan local government area of Osun State.
The deceased, who had attended church service on the day, also spoke with her father who wished her success in her final examinations before setting out on the fateful trip.
Before leaving home on that day, she also informed her mother that she was going back to school but will also be seeing a friend on her way and the mother never knew that the friend would eventually use her for “victory soup” and together with his mother “eat her up for their own good”.
Days after leaving home, Favour’s parents became apprehensive having tried to reach her on phone severally and were not successful, an unusual character, hence, they reached out to her friends in school who told them she had not returned to school.
The parents had to report a missing person at a police station in Mowe, Ogun State.
Meanwhile, Owolabi and Prophet Philip had concluded plans on how to kill the missing girl and butcher her for ritual soup.
She had journeyed all the way from Mowe to Osun and, upon arrival, she was lodged in a hotel in Ikoyi but rather than allow her rest upon complaint of tiredness, the boyfriend urged her to meet his supposed uncle before she would later come back to the hotel for a complete rest.
At a church, which is secluded from the rest of the community, Favour still complained of the need to rest and her boyfriend urged her to enter into the partial wooden building to rest while he and his prophet accomplice concluded their talk before returning to the hotel.
While Owolabi and Segun chatted outside the building they took time to check on the poor lady and having been sure that she was fully asleep, Owolabi took a pestle and smashed it on her head. Thereafter, the prophet cut her opened and took the vital organs needed for the ritual soup.
Arrest
After Favour’s parents reported that she was missing at the police division in Mowe, the Divisional Police Officer assembled a team of detectives to find her.
The team, according to Ogun Police Command spokesperson, tracked her phone to her last destination, hence, the team mounted surveillance in the town and further tracked the last location of the phone to the church where the prophet was arrested.
The cleric informed the police that the deceased was brought to him by Owolabi who was still in the hotel where he lodged. They were both arrested after Christmas in 2019.
‘I lured her to Ikoyi to kill’
After his arrest, Owolabi told police detectives that he lured the victim to Osun under the pretence to meet his uncle and spend more time together.
He added that she travelled down because of the trust she had in him as the victim had not embarked on such journey before that one which eventually was her last.
His confessional statement which was tendered in court “I called Favour on December 8, 2019 to meet me at Ikoyi-Ile so that we could spend time together. She met me at an hotel in the area, but immediately she got there, she started complaining that she was tired and needed to rest.
“I told her that we needed to visit my dad’s younger brother before she would rest. It was a lie. I tricked her into going to the church of Segun. When we got to the church, again, she complained that she wanted to sleep, so, I asked her to go into the church and rest.
“When she slept off, I used a pestle to smash her in the head and she died. After we confirmed she was dead, Pastor Segun slaughtered her and removed the vital organs from her body which he used to prepare concoction for me and my mum to eat.
“Despite what we ate, things have not improved till I was arrested. My mum’s business has not improved after what we did and despite all our efforts. I think the money ritual did not work”.
He added that his mother was not aware of his evil plans and was made to believe that she was eating ritual soup prepared from goat’s organs.
Owolabi agreed to face the consequences of his actions but asserted that punishing his mother would amount to an injustice.
On his part, Segun admitted to cutting the deceased open after her boyfriend had killed her, removed her vital organs to prepare the spiritual meal for mother and son to be victorious of spiritual attacks.
His words also admitted as confession in court: “It is true I slaughtered Favour with a knife. I removed her heart, breasts, and other vital organs so we could use them for rituals. But, I was not the one that smashed her head with a pestle. Owolabi did it.
“We deceived Mrs Adeeko that the concoction was prepared with goat’s organs. She was not aware we used human parts in the concoction I gave her. I prepared the ritual for them because I was broke and I needed money. I demanded N250,000 but was paid N210, 000.
“I was called by God, but I think I have lost the call because of what I did”.
Owolabi’s mother, Bola, said she was not aware a human was killed in a bid for her to overcome her spiritual challenges.
According to her, she was made to believe the concoction she ate was prepared from goat meat.
Exhuming body
Following their arrest and confession, Owolabi and Segun told the police that the remains of Favour were buried in the church building. The entire community was thrown into frenzy when the remains were exhumed from a shallow grave close to the building.
The already decomposing body was packed in a body bag and transported to Ogun State with a view to delivering it to the family after autopsy.
Arraignment
The three suspects were first arraigned before an Osun State Magistrate Court in November 2020 after investigation by the police on two counts of conspiracy and murder.
They were later arraigned before a High Court sitting in Ikire.
The prosecution, led by Adekemi Bello, called nine witnesses during trial to establish conspiracy and murder charges against the suspects who testified for themselves.
At the end of trial, Justice Christiana Obadina found Owolabi and Segun guilty of conspiracy and murder.
She sentenced the Prophet and Owolabi to death by hanging for murder and 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy.
The trial judge also found Bola, Owolabi’s mother, guilty of eating human flesh and sentenced her to two years imprisonment.
Reaction
The Onikoyi of Ikoyi-Ile, Oba Yisau Oyetunji, said the community is peaceful and the people peace loving.
He maintained that the killer-prophet is not an indigene of the community.
The monarch stressed that churches should be properly registered with a view to identifying and preventing such horrible incident.
“From my findings, the self-acclaimed pastor is not an indigene of Ikoyi. The fellow who took the lady to the place, his mother and the victim are also not from Ikoyi”, he said.
“My plea to religious leaders and residents of Ikoyi and Osun State in general is to be vigilant. We should take up responsibility to secure our areas.
“If we see any strange faces or movements, we should try and do our findings on them. Our surveillance should not be restricted to strangers alone. We should not be silent on the issue of security. We should report to the police anyone constituting security risk”.
Meanwhile, the sentencing of the killers means a proper closure to a sad tale for Favour’s parents as justice appears to have been served.
Only very recently the murderers of Tapiwa Makore were sentenced to death, yet another ritual murder became known. We will never know how many ‘muti murders’ are committed in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
Thomas Muzenda, a 38-years old artisinal miner from Gokwe, Zimbabwe, reportedly killed his one-year old daughter to booster his mining business. He butchered her and chopped up the body to get parts for muti purposes. He then reported her missing to cover up his crime.
Warning: the following may upset readers because of its graphic contents. (FVDK).
Man killed daughter, 1, to boost artisanal mining business: police
‘The suspect confessed to the police that he killed his daughter with a knife for ritual purposes to allegedly boost his mining activities.
Shocking murder … A one-year-old girl was killed by her father in a “sacrifice”
Published: August 5, 2023 By: ZimLife
….an artisanal miner also confessed to killing his 1-year-old daughter in Gokwe to boost his artisanal mining business….
Meanwhile (…), in another incident (…), an artisanal miner has admitted to killing his daughter who is aged 1 year, 2 months.
Said the police, “On 2 August 2023, police in Gokwe arrested an artisanal miner, Thomas Muzenda, 38, of Village 17 Mupukuta, Chireya Gokwe North, in connection with the callous murder of his daughter, Nenyasha Muzenda, 1 year 2 months, who had been reported missing.
“The suspect confessed to the police that he killed his daughter with a knife for ritual purposes to allegedly boost his mining activities after approaching a traditional healer only identified as Dhumba.
“Police have since recovered the remains of the victim from a disused well at Zenda Mining area, Gokwe North.”
Man kills daughter (1), harvests body parts for rituals
Published: August 6, 2023 By: Bulawayo 24 News
In a spine chilling ritual murder, a 38-year-old man killed his daughter (1) and chopped up the body to get parts for muti purposes.
Thomas Muzenda, an artisinal miner (umakorokoza) from Gokwe, reportedly butchered Nenyasha Muzenda with a knife, then reported her missing to cover up the grisly offence.
Muzenda was arrested on 2 August 2023.
Without giving much detail, police took to twitter and said, ‘’ On 02/08/23, Police in Gokwe arrested an artisanal miner, Thomas Muzenda (38) of Village 17 Mupukuta, Chireya Gokwe North, in connection with the callous murder of his daughter, Nenyasha Muzenda (1 year 2 months), who had been reported missing.
“The suspect confessed to the police that he killed his daughter with a knife for ritual purposes to allegedly boost his mining activities after approaching a traditional healer only identified as Dhumba. Police have since recovered the remains of the victim from a disused well at Zenda Mining area, Gokwe North,” read the tweet.
A horrifying incident has unfolded in Gokwe, Zimbabwe, as an artisanal miner, Thomas Muzenda (38), has been apprehended by the police for the brutal murder of his one-year-old daughter, Nenyasha Muzenda.
Startling details emerged when Muzenda confessed to the heinous act, revealing that he took the innocent life in a ritualistic act aimed at bolstering his mining endeavours. The sh0cking incident has sent sh0ckwaves through the community, highlighting the desperate lengths some individuals may go to in the pursuit of wealth and success.
The tragic events unfolded when Nenyasha Muzenda was reported missing, prompting a police investigation in Gokwe, a region known for its artisanal mining activities. During questioning, Thomas Muzenda sh0ckingly admitted to authorities that he had murdered his own daughter as part of a ritual intended to enhance his mining business. Allegedly, Muzenda had sought the assistance of a traditional healer named Dhumba, who advised him that such a gruesome act would bring prosperity and success to his mining activities.
Following Muzenda’s confession, the police conducted a search and ultimately discovered the remains of the young victim in a disused well located at the Zenda mining area in Gokwe North. The gruesome find further confirmed the harrowing nature of the crime and left the community in a state of sh0ck and disbelief.
Meanwhile, the police are urging anyone with information regarding the murder of Clemence Mwale (30) to come forward and assist with the investigation. Mwale was fatally attacked by unknown assailants on August 3 in Dzivaresekwa, and the authorities are seeking any leads that could shed light on the circumstances surrounding this tragic event.
The arrest of Thomas Muzenda has sent sh0ckwaves throughout Zimbabwe, prompting a broader conversation about the lengths some individuals may go to in their pursuit of success. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of ethical practices and the need to safeguard vulnerable members of society. – My Zimbabwe News
The brutal death of 7-year old Tapiwa Makore not only shocked people in Zimbabwe. Also in neighbouring countries people followed Zimbabwe’s most notorious ritual murder case. After all, ‘muti murders’ are well known in Southern Africa.
The following article was written by Prof. Jairos Kangira, who writes from Namibia.
Warning: Some readers may find the following article disturbing. (FVDK).
Last month, when the Zimbabwe High Court sentenced to death the two murderers who brutally murdered seven-year old boy, Tapiwa Makore, for rituals in 2020, there was a sigh of relief in his family and among a groundswell of sympathisers in that country and internationally that had been traumatised by the horrific act of the convicts, Tapiwa Makore senior (the boy’s uncle) and Tafadzwa Shamba. Ironically, Tapiwa Makore senior killed his namesake, his brother’s son named after him.
Both the traditional media and social media were awash with stories and comments saying that the death sentence was an appropriate punishment for the two heartless men who killed Tapiwa and cut his body into parts after severing his head. That the killers cooked the boy’s head and took it to a traditional healer for muti purposes in Mozambique shows that some barbaric African beliefs in ritual killings still exist in some people’s sociocultural milieu in Zimbabwe.
The killers’ motive in kidnapping the boy and murdering him on that fateful day was to use their victim’s body parts for muti to boost a cabbage business. In normal senses, people may ask what connection there is between human body parts and cabbages which need sufficient manure, fertiliser and water, not human blood, to grow.
Senseless and irrational to think that their cabbage business could flourish by ritual killing. That the killers summoned the angels of death to play an oversight role as they butchered the innocent primary school boy for business purposes indicated the devils in them. For committing this dastardly and inhuman act, some have argued, these murderers deserved a worse punishment than the death penalty, if something like that exists. Others have argued that the two ritual killers must have their limbs cut off before they are finally hanged so that they can feel the pain before they die. This illustrates the depth of the contempt people have of these murderers.
This cold-blooded murder has led many rightful thinking people to question the sanctity and essence of human life, when a small boy can lose his life just like that to elders who should have protected him in the first place. Is life really worth living? Is life sacrosanct? Is life sacred?
These rhetorical questions come into one’s head when one hears about horrendous stories of the ritual killings of children. There are many moral verses in the Bible on what Jesus said about the care and innocence of children such as the seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore who unnecessarily had his life cut short at a tender age.
I find this verse as one of the appropriate quotes of what Jesus said about children: “If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6). This verse pronounces a death sentence to those who do bad things to innocent children. I am not a preacher, and I am not attempting to be one here. The point I am making is that, truly speaking, the chilling murder of Tapiwa Makore is a negation of what Jesus said about treatment of children.
Instead of giving him love and kindness, the brutish elders drugged the unsuspecting boy using an illicit brew before they killed him and dismembered his lifeless body. A callous act, indeed.
When I was discussing Tapiwa Makore’s fate with my colleagues recently, we concluded that we could have faced the same fate when we were young. Each of us recounted the countless times we would be sent on errands by our parents to some remote villages on our own. We oftentimes looked after livestock in the plains and forests where we could have easily become victims of murder by unscrupulous elders from our villages or strangers.
Truly, the murder of Tapiwa Makore is like fiction. It is a story best described as hell has no fire.
Professor Jairos Kangira is a professor of English at the University of Namibia. Email address: kjairos@gmail.com
Recommended reading for those interested in the pros and cons of the death penalty. (webmaster FVDK)
Death of the death penalty in Ghana
Published: November 3, 2022 By: Prosper Andre Batinge – Graphic Online, Ghana
For some time now, Ghanaian penal advocates tracking liberal global criminal justice crusaders have been trying to kill the death penalty with only near successes.
The real chance at abolishing the death penalty in Ghana emerged in the case of Dexter Johnson v the Republic [2011] 1 SCGLR 601. But a majority decision of Ghana’s Supreme Court, against the spirited protestations of the minority, especially Justice Samuel Kofi Date-Bah (as he then was), declined and passed the buck to Parliament.
In throwing the ball from the Supreme Court to the chambers of Parliament, then Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah (now the Chief Justice of Ghana) wrote: “I am aware that the death penalty has been abolished in other jurisdictions, especially in the Commonwealth countries.
“I would, like my brother Dotse JSC, advocate statutory intervention like other jurisdictions where they have degrees of murder instead of judicial intervention by way of interpretation.” [Dexter Johnson at 703.]
Bills
Parliament now has a clear chance to abolish the death penalty. The Madina Constituency lawmaker, Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu, is a front advocate of the Death Penalty Bills: The Criminal and Other Offences (Amendment) Act 1960 (Act 29) and the Armed Forces (Amendment) Act 1962 (Act 105).
These Bills seek to amend sections 46, 49, 49a, 180, 194 and 317a of Act 29 and sections 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 40, 78, and 79 of Act 105. The Bills were gazzetted on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
These Bills seek to abolish the death penalty for ordinary offences, still leaving in the purgatory of the death penalty those convicted of serious crimes like High Treason and Treason.
Cruel
Ghana has not executed anybody convicted and sentenced to the death penalty since 1993. In strict terms and in practice thus Ghana appears not a death penalty state.
But the nation’s trial courts continue to impose the death penalty on persons upon conviction. Some 165 convicted persons were on the death row at the end of 2021; the number is now more than 170.
The death penalty offends the right to life etched in crucial human rights conventions, covenants, and declarations.
The death penalty also offends African customary law. Ubuntu was influential in abolishing the death penalty in South Africa. The South African Constitutional Court in S v Makwanyane held that the death penalty violated the right to human dignity, underscoring that the right to dignity was an integral part of ubuntu.
The death penalty is too cruel and has proven parallel to the values of evolved human sensibilities. The death penalty appears a relic of backward societies of a backward era.
The psychological torture to people on death row is immense. They wait for the never-arriving day of their execution. Some have taken their own lives during this uncertain period of waiting.
As well, the psychological effect of the death penalty on executing officers is no less tormenting. The introduction of so-called mercy killing such as injecting convicts to die peacefully and painlessly has not lessen the cruelty of the practice on both the victim and the killer.
Innocent people – not infrequently – are accused, convicted, and executed for crimes, of which they are not culpable. Fairly recently, Mr Emmanuel Tetteh was released from prison after he was wrongfully sentenced to death for murder. He did 33 years behind bars. At his release, he was 75 years.
The case against abolishing the death sentence, therefore, often makes both theoretical and common sense. But on few occasions, the argument against the death penalty is difficult to advance with clear conscience in a society of persistence instances of ritual murders.
Some of our compatriots believe that they can sacrifice their fellow human beings for money, and they, according to allegations too numerous to ignore, kill others with the hope of attaining wealth.
Some of the victims of ritual murders are young citizens in their prime with full potential of their lives in front of them, promising lives cut painfully short by evil people. It is with pain that I still believe and argue that even a ritual murderer ought not to suffer the death penalty.
Parliament
Writing for the majority in the case of Dexter Johnson supra, Justice Jones Dotse (as he then was) opined that “the time has possibly come for the Parliament of Ghana to seriously consider whether to have a policy shift in the mandatory death penalty regime imposed on those convicted of murder.” {[2011] 1 SCGLR 601 at 702.}
More than a full decade after the Supreme Court’s indication, and after years of campaigns to end the death penalty, Parliament appears willing to kill the death penalty in the case of ordinary crimes.
As Parliament commences a new session of its lawmaking duties last Tuesday, October 25, 2022, it should ensure that the death penalty ends with the end of the Third Meeting of the Second Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
The writer is a lawyer/doctoral fellow at Fordham Law School, N.Y., USA: E-mail: pbatinge@fordham.edu
Many of my postings on this site refer to reported or suspected ritual murder cases in West Africa. However, this phenomenon dating from ancient times also exists in other regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Superstition and the greed for power, wealth or good health constitute the main driving forces behind the crimes of ritual murder, human sacrifice and/or ritual cannibalism.
In East Africa ritualistic murders are rife in Uganda. As mentioned below, according to the 2013 Child Sacrifice and Mutilations Report, one child is killed for rituals every week. A mind blowing statistic. Within Uganda the Kayunga District has earned the dubious reputation of being one of the most notorious killing places. Read the breath taking article below; the reader is warned as it contains graphic details.
Uganda is one of an increasing number of SSA countries where human sacrifice and ritualistic murders have become crimes which carry the death penalty. Many countries and international initiatives have outlawed the capital punishment, but several African countries take a different course, notably to contain and/or eradicate ritual murders. The big question is whether the death penalty, which is not always executed, will bring us closer to a society where people no longer fear falling victim to ritual killers. Or should we look for another approach the eradicate this scourge of ignorance and superstition?
PS For an interesting plea to abolish the death penalty the reader is invited to read the following article: ‘Death of Death Penalty in Ghana‘ or click here. (webmaster FVDK)
Why human sacrifices still thrive in Kayunga
A suspect digs up a place where he claimed to have buried a child in Kayunga District last year. PHOTO/FRED MUZAALE
Published: November 11, 2022 By: Fred Muzaale – Monitor, Uganda
What you need to know:
Police say most victims of human sacrifices are children because they are easier to abduct and seen as “pure” and of “higher ritual value.”
Last year, President Museveni passed the Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill 2021, which criminalises the act of human sacrifice.
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On a hot Monday afternoon at Kayunga Court premises in Kayunga District, Allan Ssembatya walks with his head lowered.
Visibly not in a good mood, he is in the company of a man and a woman. The two grown-ups are his mother and father.
The 19-year-old Ssembatya’s forehead bares a big scar that he sustained after he was cut with a machete by two men during an attempted ritual murder incident in 2009. He was by then 6 years old. Fortunately, Ssembatya, now in Senior One, survived, but lost both of his testicles. Because of the cut inflicted on his head, he now has persistent headaches and nightmares.
A resident of Busolo Village in Kayunga Sub-county, Ssembatya spent one month in a coma after the incident.
“Doctors who examined him after the attack said he would not be able to bear children. This is purely a case of human sacrifice,” Ms Sarah Tumusiime, the Kayunga Chief Magistrate, revealed during a court session last month.
She sentenced the convicts; Paul Ngaswireki and Awali Kivumbi, both residents of Busolo Village, who were found guilty of committing the offence, to 40 years each in prison.
According to Ssembatya’s father, his son was attacked by the two men when he had gone to the garden to harvest a jackfruit. He was later left fighting for his life in a forest.
Ssembatya’s case is the latest among such incidents, but Kayunga District has had numerous human sacrifice-related incidents.
In March 2020, a 60-year-old man in Kakoola Village, Kitimbwa Sub-county, was beheaded and his head taken by unknown assailants.
The torso was later recovered from a bush. Two witch doctors were arrested in connection with this incident although the whereabouts of the human skull is still unknown.
Additionally, a traditional healer in Kisoga Village, Nazigo Sub-county, was arrested in 2018 after five bodies were found buried in his shrine. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by Mukono High Court.
Last year, a father in Bbaale Sub-county was arrested after he allegedly killed two of his children over ritual sacrifice. He confessed to the act claiming he was promised Shs2m.
Ms Beatrice Ajwang, the Kayunga District officer-in-charge of the Criminal Investigations Department, said most of the suspects arrested in connection with such acts are “traditional healers and people who want to get rich quickly”.
Ms Ajwang said most victims of human sacrifices are children, apparently because they are easier to abduct and seen as “pure” and of “higher ritual value.”
Without disclosing statistical figures of how many cases of human sacrifice had been recorded in the district, Ms Ajwang confirms that “Kayunga is a hotbed of ritual sacrifice”.
She said out of more than 300 traditional healers operating in the district, their preliminary investigations reveal that half of the number are quacks.
“Kayunga is a unique area, you will find many households having shrines on top of being multi-ethnic. This could be a major contributor to these acts,” Kayunga chairperson Andrew Muwonge said.
Ms Ajwang said despite enacting laws to crack down on those engaging in human sacrifices, the practice has continued.
The law Last year, President Museveni passed the Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill 2021, which criminalises the act of human sacrifice.
The legislation was moved as a private member’s Bill by former Ayivu County legislator Bernard Atiku with the intent of addressing the growing vice of human sacrifice.
According to the new law, any person who mutilates or causes the death of another person for the purpose of performing or furthering a ritual commits an offence and will be punished by the death penalty upon conviction.
“Worse still, it is a big challenge investigating human sacrifice cases because on some occasions it is carried out by parents themselves on their children while in some other cases people are not willing to give information that could be of help to arrest and prosecute offenders,” Ms Ajwanga said, adding: “We appeal to religious leaders to help us instill morals in our people. As police, we have tried to sensitise them against this vice.’’
Ms Sylvia Namutebi, aka Maama Fiina, the national chairperson of Uganda Traditional Healer’s Association, dismisses claims that the acts are committed by people who practice her trade.
“No genuine traditional healer can sacrifice a human being. These are masqueraders hiding in our job. It is our duty to ensure we [genuine healers] weed out such bad people,” Ms Namutebi said.
She said with the help of genuine healers, they have arrested and prosecuted such ‘wrong elements’, noting that she is on a country-wide tour to sensitise traditional healers on professional ethics.
Mr Peter Mawerere, the Kayunga deputy Resident District Commissioner, blamed the vice on ignorance, greed, and poverty. He noted that many people sacrifice human beings because they think it will make them wealthier.
“It is surprising that many people go to traditional healers when they fall sick, even when their ailments can be treated by qualified medical personnel,” he said.
“We have tasked the leadership of traditional healers to fight the acts, which we highly believe are perpetuated by some of their members,” he added.
Rev Fr Maurice Kigoye, the parish priest of Kangulumira Parish in Kangulumira Sub-county, said: “It [human sacrifice] is really an inhuman act. How can you think that when you kill a person and drink their blood, you can get rich? As religious leaders, we have tried to lure them [culprits] to turn to God and get saved,” Fr Kigoye said.
NGO role Mr Peter Sewakiryanga, the executive director of Kyampisi Child Care Ministries (KCM), said his organisation receives a number of human sacrifice cases from Kayunga District every month.
“We work with probation officers, police, and other agencies who bring to our attention such cases,” he said.
Mr Sewakiryanga added that in a bid to ensure the culprits are arrested and prosecuted, his organisation facilitates investigations carried out by police officers.
“Many such cases die at the investigation stage, but with our support, a number of the suspects have been prosecuted and convicted like the recent one of Ssembatya. Court sentenced the convicts to 40 years each in jail,” he said.
He explains that KCM also offers treatment, counselling, and psychosocial support to survivors of ritual sacrifice.
“We have in some cases relocated families of the victims for their safety, built them houses and offered education to survivors,” Mr Sewakiryanga said.
2013 report
According to the 2013 Child Sacrifice and Mutilations Report, one child is killed for rituals every week.
The report indicates that people carry out human sacrifices to seek wealth, among others.
In many African countries the capital punishment has been abolished, yet in a number of countries people start pressurizing their governments to re-introduce the death penalty notably for convicted ritual murderers.
In the aftermath of an increasing number of shocking ritual murders it is now Ghana’s turn. Recently, the People’s National Convention (PNC) called on the government to reintroduce the death penalty for convicted ritual murderers. (webmaster FVDK).
Invoke death penalty as punishment for ritual killers — PNC
