Namibia, gender-based violence and ritualistic killings

Sometimes information on the occurrence of ritual likings or specific ritualistic murders is hidden in articles and/or books. One has to read between the lines to discover a reference to these age-old, cruel, outdated and criminal practices.

Such was the case when I recently read an article written by Martha Mukaiwa, a writer and journalist based in Windhoek, Namibia. She is also a writer in residence at the International Writer Program.

Martha Mukaiwa recently gave us her view on Namibia as a peaceful country. In fact, she provides many examples to the contrary.

In an article published by The Namibian, she presents a picture of Namibia which is different from what we expect. The at times gruesome facts she presents are shocking and convincing. Besides, it is my honest view that one always has to listen to what people who know a country well have to say about their native country.

Martha Mukaiwa provides us with an insight in this southwestern African country which is not known in detail to the outside world. In particular she focuses on gender-based violence and the plight of LGBTQI+ people in Namibia. I fully share and support her plea for a more peaceful Namibia.

Therefor I wish to recommend her article. Moreover, Namibia does not often strike headlines with respect to ritualistic killings. Hence another reason why Martha Mukaiwa’s article deserves reading. For that reason I’ve included it below.
(webmaster FVDK)

Peace in Namibia?

Published: May 18, 2024
By: Martha Mukaiwa – The Namibian

The tale many of us like to tell is that Namibia is a peaceful country.

It’s a mantra we repeat, as if saying it incessantly will make it entirely true, as if to be at peace is simply to not be at literal war.

When struggles for independence near their end, most nations begin the work of penning promises and predicting the future.

They compose constitutions. They write about themselves in golden, glowing terms, assuring things like freedom, prosperity and peace.

But just because a nation is not at war does not mean it’s not beset with a spirit of violence.

The same beating, bloody compulsion that shouts from daily newspapers as they speak of countless murdered women, six slain LGBTQI+ citizens in the last nine months and myriad of unnamed rape victims violated on their way to work, on their way to school, on their way to anywhere.

So where, pray tell, is this peace?

This peace of mind, freedom from violence, from murder and from vanishing?

Is it in Kavango East, where a string of murders, many victims missing body parts, remain unsolved as locals whisper of ritual killings? (italics added by the webmaster FVDK)

Is it in the traumatised soul of the eight-year-old boy at Okalale village who, in less than a decade on this earth, has learnt that the punishment for stealing food is to be beaten with an electrical cable before being doused in boiling water?

I don’t dare look for peace in the life of a Windhoek woman who seemed to foresee her own fate.

“Gender-based violence has always been there. It has become a norm to some men. When the beating stops, they resort to killing, mind you, this should not be called passion killing ’cause there’s nothing passionate about it,” she wrote on Facebook in 2019.

“As a country we have turned a blind eye to the growing issue, this needs to be curbed before it escalates beyond return.”

And return she shall not.

Helen Onesmus was murdered in February this year.

Reports about her death allege she was killed by her husband and that they were in the process of divorcing.

Perhaps Onesmus’ peace was on the other side of such a separation, but no one and, most tragically, she will never know.

Onesmus joins a growing list of women murdered by local men this year.

Sixty-four-year-old Helena Wemmert was reportedly robbed, raped and murdered at her home at Rehoboth in January, when the suspect was out on bail regarding another murder case.

Reports say Lizelda Xoagus’ husband murdered her with a kitchen knife at their home at Grootfontein, stabbing her multiple times before pouring acid on her body in April.

Later that month, Delia Weimers-Maasdorp’s body was found wrapped in a blanket at her home in Klein Windhoek. A male suspect has been arrested for her murder.

Peace?

Pekakurua Sylvia Kaimu, mother of nine-year-old Avihe Cheryl Ujaha, says Avihe’s death will haunt her forever.

Avihe’s raped, mutilated and partially dismembered body was found dumped in a riverbed in 2018 and the case remains cold. (italics added by the webmaster FVDK)

Unlike Avihe, two teen girls raped in a riverbed at Rehoboth survived to tell their tale of returning from a prayer session only to be violated at knifepoint in January.

Ask the women, children and LGBTQI+ people of this country about peace and you’ll find there is, in fact, little to be had.

There is no peace when you fear rape and murder in your own home or in your community.

There is no peace in cold cases, in perpetrators roaming among us or when your country has zero functional safe houses for adult victims of gender-based violence.

There is even less when you worry your child won’t come home after going out to play.

There is certainly no peace when six members of your community have been brutally murdered in the last nine months and calls to criminalise your LGBTQI+ identities blare in the hate speech stoked by political and religious leaders in online comment sections, in malicious WhatsApp groups and in the street.

Namibia is a peaceful country, we say, as if many of its people, most often men, are not regularly, brutally and, at times, fatally violent.

Once, maybe, this brave and undeniably beautiful land may have been every bit of its post-independence ideals.

Perhaps, it was even the epitome of peaceful.

But years pass, promises fade and we must eventually see our current selves for who we truly are.

The first step in recovery is admitting we have a problem.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com

Source: Peace?

Kavango East is Namibia’s most northeastern Region – for the Kavango East Regional Council, click here

Cameroon: widespread violence against women and young girls including ritual killing

I rarely read news reports on ritualistic killings and murders in Cameroon. This is partly due to a bias in the methodology of my research and the selection of news reports which in particular focus strongly on anglophone news media. This however does not mean that there are no ritual murders committed in Francophone and Lusophone African countries.

I recently came across a news article on Cameroon which indicates the occurrence of ritualistic violence including murders in this West / Central African country. In particular, I read (I quote): “Every week in Cameroon, there is a report of femicide, ritual killing, rape case, or any other form of violence resulting in the death of a woman or girl.” (Unquote).

The main focus of the article being on femicide and the plight of women and young girls in Cameroon, I will refrain from elaborating on the horrible crime of femicide since this topic is not this site’s focus.

For research purposes I present the original article below, as usual accompanied by a reference to its source.
(webmaster FVDK)

Cameroon: Calls mount for comprehensive legislation to combat femicide

Published: May 16, 2023
By: Business In Cameroon (Yaoundé)

The alarming rate of femicide in Cameroon has prompted women’s associations and stakeholders to raise their voices to demand comprehensive legislation to combat the phenomenon.

“Since January 2023, we have recorded no less than 27 women and young girls who have died as a result of violence perpetrated against them by men, in most cases a spouse or a relative,” regretted the Minister of Family and Women’s Empowerment (Minproff), Marie Thérèse Abena Ondoa. She was speaking during an advocacy session held in Yaoundé on the sidelines of the International Day of Families on May 15.

Even more alarming, the figures reported by Minproff, although already very high, are only the tip of the iceberg. According to women’s rights organizations, the situation is much worse than that because in many cases deaths related to gender-based violence are not reported as such. Hence the urgent need for a legal framework to stop the mass killings of women and girls because of their gender.

“A specific law against violence against women is a must in Cameroon. The head of State made that promise to us in 1997. And I now realize he knew such a law is crucial. We’ve always thought our current legal law was enough. Many things have indeed been done, many mechanisms have been put in place but that is not enough. Perpetrators must be deterred, especially when they are intimate partners or family members,” said the national president of the Association to Fight Violence Against Women, Élise Pierrette Mpoung Meno.

Grim picture

Many of Cameroon’s development partners also support this initiative. They call for the strengthening of the legal framework to put a definitive end to GBV. The UN Women’s resident representative in Cameroon, Marie Pierre Raky Chaupin, said femicides “are the most brutal and extreme manifestation of a continuum of violence against women and girls”.

“Cameron lacks a legal framework against GBV, but there are many provisions that punish different forms of gender-based violence. We may need to examine the existing strong legal framework in Cameroon and better coordinate it with comprehensive legislation. This is an advocacy that UNFPA has started,” says Noemie Dalmonte, Deputy Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This UN agency supports the government in its efforts to combat GBV through prevention and risk reduction actions and activities.

Every week in Cameroon, there is a report of femicide, ritual killing, rape case, or any other form of violence resulting in the death of a woman or girl. “The situation is gruesome, given the recent news,” acknowledges Minproff, who also wishes to see specific legislation that will “severely punish” GBV perpetrators.

Pending the adoption of the law, Marie Thérèse Abena Ondoa said new strategies will be swiftly put in place. The success of this approach requires the involvement of everyone, including communities, she said.

Source: Cameroon: Calls mount for Comprehensive Legislation to combat femicide

Political map of Cameroon

Kenya: Tharaka Nithi girl killed in bizarre ritual sacrifice buried

See my January 20 and January 25, 2021 postings for background information on this ritual murder. Warning: some readers may find the story disturbing (webmaster FVDK).

Tharaka Nithi girl killed in bizarre ritual sacrifice buried

The mother of nine-year-old Debra Kagendi, the girl who was beheaded in a suspected ritual sacrifice, holds her daughter’s portrait during burial on January 26, 2021 in Tharaka Nithi County. Photo: Alex Njeru | Nation Media Group

Published: January 27, 2021
By: The Nation, Kenya – Alex Njeru  

The nine-year-old girl from Tharaka Nithi who was beheaded last week in what was suspected to be a ritual sacrifice was on Tuesday buried in an emotional ceremony at her home in Mpingu village, Maara Sub-county.

Bitter relatives, local leaders, teachers and the villagers eulogised Debra Kagendi, who was a Grade Two pupil at Kiurani Primary School, as an obedient girl and demanded justice over her killing.

The Ameru Njuri Ncheke Council of Elders led by Maara Constituency chapter vice-secretary, Mr Gilbert Kathendu, also castigated the heinous act and urged the residents to remain calm as the matter goes on in court but vowed to conduct a traditional ritual to curse the act.

Cleansing prayers

The clergy also announced plans to conduct prayers in the region to cleanse the area of evil activities such as witchcraft.

Marimanti MCA Susan Ngugi and her Mwimbi counterpart Jonnes Kinegeni asked police to conduct thorough investigations and build a water-tight case against the suspected criminals.

Ms Ngugi decried the rise in child abuse and gender-based violence in Magutuni area and asked the local administration to weed out the criminals.

“We are urging those handling the murder case to make sure that the truth is known and justice is served,” said Ms Mwindu.

Mr Kinegeni urged parents to be keen on the whereabouts of their children, especially girls, because cases of child abuse are on the rise in the region.

Investigations ongoing

Mwimbi Deputy County Commissioner Elaine Kaale assured the residents that investigation officers are doing everything to unearth the truth that they will present in court against the suspects.

She called for calm and warned the villagers against taking the law into their hands by doing any vengeful act.

The body of the girl was found at the home of a suspected witch-doctor, Mr Suleiman Mati Mukiira, 94, on January 17, 2021.

Head found

Maara Sub-County Police Commander Mohammed Jarso said they found the head of the girl at a different place from where the torso was.

He added that they also found carcasses of a goat and chicken with missing hearts.

Following the incident, police arrested Mukiira and Mr Michael Ngugi Riungu, 32, who were presented in court as suspects.

Police asked for seven days to continue holding them as they conclud investigations.

On Monday, the two were brought before Senior Resident Magistrate Mwanamkuu Sudi but did not take a plea as police asked for more time to conduct a post-mortem on the girl’s body and also take the suspects for a mental tests.

Source: Tharaka Nithi girl killed in bizarre ritual sacrifice buried