In Ghana, superstition is widespread, and Ghana is not the only SSA country where people firmly believe in the power of witches, witchdoctors, and witchcraft. The fear which many people have for those perceived to be witches may lead to abnormal reactions, as the case below illustrates. A woman was beaten to death just because she was thought to be a witch and accused of causing irregular rain.
Education is the only effective means to fight superstition. Meanwhile the rule of law must apply. A government and society cannot tolerate the law of the jungle.
The article presented below is only part of the original article. Members only have access to the full article published by the online news site Christianity Today. See the original link below. (Webmaster FVDK)
Ghana Pentecostals Come to the Defense of Accused Witches
Published: November 23, 2020 By: Christianity Today, Ghana – Daniel Silliman and Griffin Paul Jackson
An old woman was killed when she refused to confess to causing irregular rain. Christians had to speak up.
Pentecostals everywhere sing about the power of Jesus’ name. But in Ghana, they sing specifically that his name is powerful against witches.
More than 90 percent of Ghanaian Christians believe witchcraft is a problem in the country, and more than half have visited a Pentecostal prayer camp to ask for deliverance from witches and demons, according to a study by Opoku Onyinah, theologian and past president of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC). The Spirit-empowered churches in the West African country don’t take the issue of witches lightly.
But this summer, the GPCC decided to speak up for the women who are accused of witchcraft. The Pentecostal group, an umbrella organization of 200 denominations and parachurches, called for new laws and a national conversation about how to better take care of the more than 2,000 widows who have been exiled over allegations of working with demons.
The churches decided to make a statement after an elderly Muslim woman in a rural village was beaten to death when she refused to confess to witchcraft. Akua Denteh was accused of causing irregular rain, starting fires, and killing children with supernatural powers. A video of her violent death—as a crowd stood watching—was shared widely around the country, and Christian leaders decided they could no longer be silent.
“The elderly, weak and vulnerable must be targeted for the care and protection of our society,” the GPCC statement said. “We must, at all cost, seek justice for this 90-year-old woman and all those who have suffered such atrocities in the past.”
Onyinah, speaking on a popular radio program, called for laws controlling witch hunts and witch identifications. He added a specific ….. the rest of the article is available for ‘members-only’ (follow the link below)
The following articles provide a useful insight into the background of (some) ritual murders in Sub-Saharan Africa – in this case in Zimbabwe – notably the involvement of relatives.
To refresh your mind, the articles relate to the gruesome muthi or muti murder of a 7-year old boy in Makore village, Mashonaland East. On September 18 of this year, 7-year old Tapiwa Makore was discovered, severely mutilated with several body parts missing, after he got missing a few days earlier. Soon the police arrested a suspected culprit as well as the man who allegedly ordered the crime, Tapiwa Makore Senior, uncle of the deceased and the elder brother of the victim’s father.
Now the police have arrested a traditional healer (n’niga), Tinei Makore aka Marvelous Muchedzi, a witch doctor who allegedly is connected to the murder. The suspect is also a relative of the murdered boy’s parent. He is also a known tsikamutanda (witch hunter).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we should not forget that one is not guilty until found guilty in an impartial, transparent trial by an independent judge. That’s the rule of law which is one of the pillars of a free, democratic society respecting the universal human rights. But the same human rights also give the right to live: an unalienable right of both the victim and the countless other victims of ritualistic activities – both in Zimbabwe, in Sub-Saharan Africa and the world at large.
Warning: the following articles contain graphic details of the heinous crime (webmaster FVDK).
The victim of the ritual murder, 7-year old Tapiwa Makore
Murehwa Ritual Killing Latest: N’anga speaks on Murehwa boy’s murder
October 11, 2020 By: Sunday Mail Zimbabwe – Garikai Mazara
THE mystery surrounding the whereabouts of slain seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore’s missing head and hands has deepened.
The traditional healer suspected to be the brains behind the ritual murder is saying it was pure coincidence that he happened to visit the village the week that the boy disappeared and was allegedly murdered.
Tapiwa disappeared on Thursday September 17, only for his torso to be dragged by dogs into a village compound the following morning.
Tinei Makore, also known as Marvellous Muchedzi, who is a known traditional healer, had left the village the previous day, Wednesday September 16.
The Sunday Mail tracked him down and found him at his compound in the Mvurwi farming area. He confirmed that he had, indeed, visited his home village in the three days preceding Tapiwa’s disappearance and subsequent murder.
He revealed that he spent his three-day stay in the village with Tapiwa Makore Senior, the co-accused in the disappearance and alleged murder of Tapiwa Junior.
“I had been away from my village for slightly more than a year. I got a witch-hunting job to do at Chabwino Farm, in the Shamva area and after I was paid, I decided to go home and catch up with my cousins,” narrated Tinei.
“I left this farm (Mvurwi area) on Saturday and arrived in Makore village Monday. Since I moved out of the village some three years back and there is no one staying in the home which we used to stay, Tapiwa Senior said I could spend my days in the village staying with him.
“On the Monday, we spent time in the village mixing with other folks, trying to catch up. That night I slept at Tapiwa’s home. The following day, I spent almost the whole of it attending to my motorbike which had a puncture.
“Tapiwa Senior said he was going to work with other villagers on deepening his well, as the water was no longer enough for his cabbages.”
Tinei said he slept at Tapiwa Senior’s home as well that Tuesday evening before bidding him farewell on Wednesday morning as he returned to Mvurwi.
“I stopped-over at Kashiri’s place, Fraser Farm, around the Bindura area, on my way here. I slept there Thursday and arrived back on Friday. Then on Saturday morning, I received a call from the person I had visited at Chabwino, asking me if it was true, the news that was coming from Makore village that a child had been found murdered.
“That is how I got to know that there had been a murder back in my village. I told him I was back in Mvurwi and had not heard anything. Then the news started circulating on social media and I phoned some relatives back home, only to find out if it was true.”
A self-confessed traditional healer since 1992, “when I was 20 years old”, Tinei said it was happenstance that he decided to visit his village the same week that Tapiwa Junior disappeared and coincidental that he stayed with Tapiwa Senior, the co-accused in the disappearance and murder of Tapiwa Junior.
Chief Superintendent George Mugonda, Officer in Charge at Murehwa Police Station, confirmed that Tinei is a suspect, though they were not sure about his whereabouts.
“We have been informed by the family that a relative, for long known as a traditional healer, visited the village in the days leading to the disappearance of Tapiwa Junior. We are yet to interview him as we don’t know his whereabouts,” the police supremo in Murehwa district said.
At Makore village, Munyaradzi Makore and wife, the parents of the murdered boy, said though they do not have any conclusive evidence linking Tinei to the murder, what they cannot understand is the coincidence around their relative, a known tsikamutanda (witch hunter), visiting at about the same time their son disappeared.
“For the time being we are working with what Tafadzwa Shamba has indicated and further than that, we are not privileged to comment neither can we assume. Just that the coincidence is too much to stomach for us. We will leave the police to conclude their investigations,” said Munyaradzi, the father.
Chief Supt Mugonda said besides Shamba’s confessions, which led to the discovery of the boy’s legs, they have no further information.
“The co-accused, Tapiwa Makore Senior, is refusing any involvement in the murder. In fact, he is not saying anything apart from his name. So all the information that we have so far, is what Tafadzwa has told us.”
According to Makore villagers, Tapiwa Senior lived in Harare for several years before returning to the village in July this year with a proposal to do a cabbage project. And for effect, there are times he came with his “investors” to have a look at his settings.
The long-term plan was to drill a borehole, with the help of the “investors”. However, after a couple of visits, the “investors” stopped coming to the village for the progress checks. Besides the cabbage nursery, land had been prepared for transplanting the same.
Stuck with more than enough cabbage seedlings, Tapiwa Senior is said to have started selling the seedlings, which apparently found no takers, as the water sources were drying up in the area. He, however, managed to transplant some of them in his garden.
Then Tinei, the traditional healer, paid the three-day visit, arriving on a Monday, departing on a Wednesday, a day before Tapiwa Junior disappeared.
On Friday September 18 morning, a dog dragged a human torso into a nearby village compound.
“What pains us up to now,” narrated Mrs Makore, Tapiwa’s mother, “is that uncle Tapiwa accompanied us on the six-hour party that we had to look for my son. But looking back now, we now understand, he was interfering a lot with the search, saying things that dispirited us. We abandoned the search around midnight, which tallies with the time that Tafadzwa said they killed my son.
Screenshot from the video, click here to listen to the interview
“The following morning, as soon as daybreak, we resumed the search. Then a boy was sent to where we were, advising us to abandon the search and go home. I started crying, I knew that my son was dead. But my thinking then, as I had sent him to the garden, was that he had drowned in a well. I was asked not to go where everyone was going, but asked to go to my mother-in-law’s place.
“This was around 7am. I was only asked to attend to the scene around 3pm when the police had already been called in. My husband, though, had been there. When I got there the torso was covered with a blanket and I did not see anything. The only time I saw it, was when it was put into the steel coffin.”
At the time of his disappearance, Tapiwa Junior was putting on a maroon trousers and a white round-neck jersey with blue stripes. His shoes were found by the garden but the clothes have not been found as yet.
When investigating officers came back after collecting the body, they asked everyone in the village to stand with his wife. All the women were asked to stay in one place and as the men went on a search of each household.
A trousers with blood stains was found in Tafadzwa’s room. Tafadzwa was staying with Tapiwa Senior as his herd boy. On initial and separate questioning, Tapiwa Senior is said to have said that the blood was that of a chicken that he had asked Tafadzwa to kill for their meal. On the other hand, Tafadzwa is said to have said he had slept with a virgin the previous day. When the named girl was asked, she refused having slept with Tafadzwa.
Interestingly, Tinei, the traditional healer, in admitting that for two nights he slept in one of Tapiwa Senior’s spare bedrooms, said that Tafadzwa was not staying with Tapiwa Senior, but was staying at the Katsande homestead, a stone’s throw from Tapiwa’s homestead. He said Tapiwa Senior prepared the Tuesday meal for him.
In accordance with local traditions, Chief Mangwende has ordered that no corpse will be buried in his area without a head.
Thus, the Makores’ appeal to the co-accused is to come clean on the whereabouts of their son’s head so that he can be accorded a decent burial.
“We want our son to finally be put to rest but we are appealing to those who have our son’s head to come clean, there is no need to keep hiding it because the whole world now knows what happened. We want closure on the matter, at least for now,” said the mother.
Chief Supt Mugonda was singing from the same hymn book, pleading with anyone who might have information that might bring the matter to finality to come forward.
“This issue is no longer a Murehwa issue, but it is now a national issue, so if there is anyone out there who might have any information that might help us locate the boy’s head, please let them come forward.”
Tinei, the traditional healer, said no one, not even the police, had approached him to give his side of the story but has nothing to hide.
“It is just pure coincidence that I happened to be at the village the same week this murder occurred, otherwise I am prepared to go back to the village to clear my name.”
On the two Tapiwas’ sharing the same name, Mr Munyaradzi Makore said it was pure coincidence that they gave their son the name of his cousin, and that they did not give him the name as an honour to Tapiwa Senior.
“True, we once stayed with him (Tapiwa Senior) in Mufakose for some four months. At the time, I had separated with my wife and during the course of reuniting, we had this son, and we were just elated that we had been blessed with a son, as our first-born was a girl. So we named him Tapiwa. It had nothing to do with my cousin.”
Published: October 11, 2020 By: iHarare – Tim E. Ndoro
The investigation into the horrific ritual murder of seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore of Murehwa last month has taken another twist after the n’anga who is alleged to be the mastermind of the plot spoke out. The traditional healer is denying claims that he was behind the ritual murder and is insisting that it’s pure coincidence that he was in Makore Village around almost the same time that Tapiwa was kidnapped and murdered in cold blood.
iHarare has learned from the Sunday Mail – see preceding article (webmaster FVDK) – that Tinei Makore, who also goes by Marvellous Muchedzi, is a well known traditional healer who is related to the victim and the chief suspect Tapiwa Makore senior.
The traditional healer is reported to have visited Makore Village and stayed with Tapiwa Makore Senior. After he left, 7-year-old Tapiwa Makore disappeared the next day and his mutilated torso was discovered a day later.
The police have since confirmed that they regard the n’anga as a suspect but have been unable to locate him so far. Chief Superintendent George Mugonda, the Officer in Charge at Murehwa Police Station, told the publication,
“We have been informed by the family that a relative, for long known as a traditional healer, visited the village in the days leading to the disappearance of Tapiwa Junior. We are yet to interview him as we don’t know his whereabouts,”
Tafadzwa Shamba at the crime scene
However, reporters from the Sunday Mail managed to track down Tinei Makore at this base in Mvurwi, where he insisted that his hands are clean. The traditional healer said that it was mere coincidence that he visited the village a few days before Tapiwa was kidnapped and killed in the ritual killing.
Narrating the events surrounding his visit, the n’anga told the scribes,
“I had been away from my village for slightly more than a year. I got a witch-hunting job to do at Chabwino Farm, in the Shamva area and after I was paid, I decided to go home and catch up with my cousins.
“I left this farm (Mvurwi area) on Saturday and arrived in Makore village Monday. Since I moved out of the village some three years back and there is no one staying in the home which we used to stay, Tapiwa Senior said I could spend my days in the village staying with him.
“On Monday, we spent time in the village mixing with other folks, trying to catch up. That night I slept at Tapiwa’s home. The following day, I spent almost the whole of it attending to my motorbike which had a puncture.
Tinei also said that the police are yet to get in touch with him over the matter insisting that he is quite eager to clear his name.
“It is just pure coincidence that I happened to be at the village the same week this murder occurred, otherwise I am prepared to go back to the village to clear my name.”
Tapiwa’s family and the police are appealing for information which can aid in the recovery of Tapiwa’s head.
The family is currently unable to bury Tapiwa’s remains because traditional leader, Chief Mangwende decreed hat no corpse will be buried in his area without a head.
The news of the ritual murder of a 7-year old boy, Tapiwa Makore – also see my previous, most recent postings – has shocked the nation. Zimbabwe griefs. The following article ‘Ritual murder unites nation’ is somewhat comforting but the parents’ pain after the mutilated body of their son had been found can never be removed. A gruesome crime has been committed. Unfortunately not the first muti murder in Zimbabwe – let’s hope it’s the last one.
Warning: The articles describing the discovery of the victim’s mutilated body and subsequent developments including the arrest of several suspects contain graphic details of the muthi murder (webmaster FVDK).
Ritual murder unites nation
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa,who is also Zanu PF Women’s League secretary for Information and the party’s secretary for Women’s Affairs Cde Mabel Chinomona console slain Tapiwa Makore’s father, Mr Munyaradzi Makore, during their visit to family’s homestead in Murehwa yesterday. — Picture: Memory Mangombe
Published: October 10, 2020 By: The Herald
The ritual murder of Tapiwa Makore (7) of Nyamutumbu Village in Murehwa has united the nation as people from all walks of life have joined hands in consoling the family, with some from the Diaspora contributing towards funeral expenses.
The boy’s uncle, Tapiwa Makore (Senior) (57), is accused of murdering his brother’s child with the help of his herdsman, Tafadzwa Shamba.
Both have since been arrested and remanded in custody on murder charges as police continue their hunt for the witchdoctor accused of processing body parts.
The witchdoctor’s name has not been revealed.
The child had his head, arms and legs cut off in the ritual killing after being kidnapped and drugged.
A lot of the reaction has been directed at witchdoctors who instigate ritual murders and process body parts, with most wanting them hunted down and punished as severely as the actual killers
Yesterday, the Zanu PF Women’s League led by secretary for Women’s Affairs Cde Mabel Chinomona and Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa paid condolences to the Makore family and donated groceries and cash.
Church members, the local leadership, relatives and members of the community have since the death of Tapiwa been visiting the Makore homestead for prayers and to comfort the family.
The Zanu PF Women’s League expressed dismay that instead of working hard to be successful, some people were turning to ritual murders in a superstitious attempt to get rich.
Cde Chinomona said the Women’s League and the whole nation had been traumatised by the incident and would not rest until justice was served.
She said the boy’s death was no longer a Makore issue as it had affected the whole nation, including President Mnangagwa.
“The death of Tapiwa is an eye-opener. We now know there were murderers in the community and this will put an end to the rituals. The nation is in pain. Everywhere people are affected and waiting for justice to be served. The death of Tapiwa has shown that some people are engaging in evil acts to get rich.
“Let us work hard to be successful. We cannot destroy the nation because of greed. As women, we are going to pray for justice to prevail. I am grateful that women have come in large numbers including members of different churches to console Tapiwa’s mother,” she said.
Cde Chinomona said they would unite as the Women’s League and march against ritual killings to ensure justice is delivered.
“Witchdoctors who are promoting murder should be arrested, shamed and exposed,” she said.
Minister Mutsvangwa said as a mother, she knew how it felt to lose a child and that experience was not easy to get over.
“As a mother I know how it feels. After all the nine-month pregnancy experience, labour pains, the sacrifice one does for the upkeep of the child only to the lose the son to murder. What has happened to our community. What has happened to our culture? Where is humanity? We need to respect life. Let us work hard than rely on rituals to succeed,” she said.
She commended churches that have been comforting the family, saying such emotional support was vital during these difficult times.
Minister Mutsvangwa urged people to value the sanctity of human life.
Chief Mangwende said they were waiting for justice to prevail.
“In Murehwa we have declared that we do not want to see murderers walking freely. Justice should prevail,” he said.
A relative, Mrs Rufaro Musupayi, said the family was overwhelmed by the support it was receiving from many people including those in the diaspora.
“We have received messages and money from people in the diaspora, some of whom we are not related to. Some have also pledged to send Tapiwa’s siblings to school. The emotional and financial support has gone a long way in helping us as family,” she said.
Tapiwa’s father Mr Munyaradzi Makore said the support from the nation had strengthened the family.
“Churches, individuals, politicians and members of this community have really helped us. We feel we are not alone. We are however still waiting for the head so we can proceed with the burial. We will wait until the head is found,” he said.
Apostolic Faith Mission, Pastor Mollete Machese Gunda said although fear and anger had gripped the community, churches were there for emotional support.
“We have to remember that God is with us and he will guide us through this difficult time just as he did to Stephan when he was stoned to death,” she said.
Published: October 5, 2020 By: Pindula News, Zimbabwe
Tafadzwa Shamba who confessed to killing Tapiwa Makore, a 7-year-old Murewa boy has led police to the recovery of the boy’s legs in a pit latrine.
Tapiwa was murdered two weeks ago in a suspected ritual case and police have so far arrested Mashamba and Tapiwa’s uncle Tapiwa Makore senior.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police is still searching for other body parts including the head which is believed to have been given to an alleged sangoma who is still at large. Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi told the Daily News on Sunday:
The ZRP confirms that in the on-going investigations in connection with the gruesome murder of…Makore, two legs were recovered in a pit toilet near a village football pitch in Murewa on October 2. Police are yet to recover the skull and hands.
The suspect, Tafadzwa, led to the recovery of the legs. He indicated that he dumped the legs in the toilet, which led to it being dug up.
Cases of child murder which are allegedly for ritual purposes have been on the rise in the country prompting President Mnangagwa to raise concern over the murders.
Herdsman Reveals Gruesome Details Of Murehwa Boy Ritual Murder
Murder suspect Tafadzwa Shamba (40) demonstrates how he killed seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore during an inspection in loco at Makore Village under Chief Mangwende in Murehwa (29/09/2020). — Picture: Memory Mangombe
Published: September 30, 2020 By: Pindula News, Zimbabwe
Tafadzwa Shamba, a Murehwa herdsman who was recently arrested over the ritual murder of Tapiwa Makore (7) at Makore Village in Murehwa, on Tuesday told detectives what happened from the time they kidnapped the boy to the day after the murder.
Shamba was taken by detectives to the garden where he kidnapped the boy allegedly under the instructions of the boy’s uncle, Tapiwa Makore (Senior).
He also led police to the uncle’s homestead where he said he fed the boy, drugged him with kachasu (an illicit beer brew) and locked him up in a room for hours. He said:
I went to the kitchen hut and brought the boy sadza and dried fish. I washed his hands before giving him the food. After eating, I went to Mrs Katsande’s homestead where I bought five litres of illicit brew (kachasu).
I drank the beer to gather courage. I also put a bit of sugar into the brew and offered it to the boy who took it until he got drunk and slept. I then locked him up in the room before going back to Mrs Katsande’s homestead for more beer.
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 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.
… The bag was now heavier and dogs were barking. I had to quickly drop the torso and proceeded with the head.
Shamba said Makore instructed him to put the head in one of the rooms, but the following day, he dumped the arms and legs at a nearby grave.
Tapiwa Makore (Senior), the murdered boy’s uncle was also arrested over Tapiwa Makore (Junior)’s murder.
Published: September 25, 2020 By: Pindula News, Zimbabwe
Police on Wednesday arrested a Murehwa herdboy, Tafadzwa Shamba, on kidnap and murder charges following the discovery of a mutilated body of a seven-year-old boy in the area last week.
Shamba and two suspects who are still at large allegedly kidnapped and murdered Tapiwah and harvested his body parts which they sold for US$ 1 500 for ritual purposes (see article below, dated September 21, 2020 – webmaster FVDK).
In a statement on Wednesday, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi gave details of the progress of investigations. He said:
It is alleged that Tafadzwa Shamba, a herd boy in the same village with the victim, worked with the other suspects to waylay the victim at a garden. They took him to a mountain where they kept him for the whole day.
They then killed him at night and one of the other suspects, who is from Juru Growth Point, took away the head leaving the herd boy with the other body parts after promising to give him US$1 500 on coming back.
Tapiwa was abducted while on his way to a garden last week where he had been sent by his mother.
His mutilated body was found being eaten by dogs a few days after his enforced disappearance.
Ritual Killings Blamed For The Death Of A 7 Year Old Murehwa Boy Whose Body Was Found With Body Parts Missing
Published: September 21, 2020 By: Pindula News, Zimbabwe
In an unfortunate incident that occurred in Makore Village under Chief Mangwende in Murewa, a 7-year-old boy’s body was discovered with his head, neck, both legs and arms hacked off, The Herald reports.
The body was discovered when a neighbour woke up to find his dogs eating the remains of a human being which turned out to be the body of the missing 7 year old boy who had gone missing the previous day.
ZRP National Spokesperson Assistant Commisioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident and said:
Police in Murewa are looking for perpetrators behind the gruesome murder of a 7-year-old boy who went missing on September 17, 2020 after he had been sent to the garden by his mother.
The body of the boy was later discovered on September18 2020 being eaten by dogs with the head, arms and legs chopped off for suspected ritual purposes. We urge parents and guardians to always be on the look out of their minors and prioritise their safety, at all times. Investigations into this matter are in progress.
According to sources privy to the developments, The minor had been sent to look after the garden by his parents with a lunchbox of food and a bottle of water, when the parents went to the garden later to water the garden they saw the lunchbox and the bottle of water but the boy was missing.
They asked his friends about his whereabouts and they said he had been swimming in a nearby pool. The parents searched for him and they could not find him and called for a search party that could not locate the boy. His body was discovered the next day when their neighbour woke up and discovered his dogs eating the remains of a human being.
Published: September 21, 2020 By: The Herald, Zimbabwe – Victor Maphosa
A 7-year-old boy from Makore Village under Chief Mangwende in Murewa was allegedly murdered last week in a suspected case of ritual killing.
Reports are that the boy was sent by his parents to look after the garden on the morning of September 17.
His parents went to the garden later to do some watering and found that their son was missing.
The parents enquired on the whereabouts of their son from other children who were also looking after their gardens nearby.
They were told that their son has been seen swimming in a nearby pond.
The boy’s parents went to the pond but could not find their son.
They then alerted some villagers and a search was conducted until midnight but they could not find him.
On September 18, in the morning, a day after the boy went missing, it is reported that a neighbour woke up and discovered his dog and its puppies feasting on human body parts in his yard.
He then alerted the boy’s parents and a report was made to the police.
The body had its head, neck, both legs and arms hacked off.
Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said investigations into the matter are in progress.
“Police in Murewa are looking for perpetrators behind the gruesome murder of a 7-year-old boy who went missing on September 17, 2020 after he had been sent to the garden by his mother.
“The body of the boy was later discovered on September18 2020 being eaten by dogs with the head, arms and legs chopped off for suspected ritual purposes. We urge parents and guardians to always be on the look out of their minors and prioritise their safety, at all times. Investigations into this matter are in progress.”
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.”
Recently, on September 24 I reported on the muthi murder of a 7-year old boy, Tapiwa Makore, in Zimbabwe. It appeared that a relative was involved, not uncommon in ritualistic murder cases. The police arrested the boy’s uncle and discovered more gruesome facts.
Warning: the following articles contain graphic details of a ritual murder (webmaster FVDK)
The brutally murdered boy, Tapiwah Makore at a family gathering
Full Details Of Murehwa Ritual Killing Revealed…Tapiwa’s Uncle Was Holding The Torch
Published: September 30, 2020 By: iHarare – Tim E. Ndoro
Police investigations into the ritual killing of a 7-year-old boy in Murehwa have uncovered all full gory details of how the murder occurred.
Tafadzwa Shamba, the herdsman who has been arrested for the murder spilt the beans and told police detectives the full sequence of events which occured leading up to the murder of young Tafadzwa Makore of Makore Village under Chief Mangwende.
During an inspection in loco on Tuesday, Shamba took the detectives through the whole gory process and revealed that they had got the young boy drunk first in order to kill him. The 40-year-old herdsman said that Tapiwa’s uncle, also called Tapiwa Makore, held the torch to provide illumination, while he killed the boy by cutting off his head.
Shamba who is described by the Herald (newspaper) as being jittery first led the police to the garden where he had kidnapped young Tapiwa, allegedly at the behest of his uncle. He then took the boy to the uncle’s homestead where they fed him and plied him alcohol as they waited for nightfall.
“I went to the kitchen hut and brought the boy sadza and dried fish. I washed his hands before giving him the food. After eating, I went to Mrs Katsande’s homestead where I bought five litres of illicit brew (kachasu).
“I drank the beer to gather courage. I also put a bit of sugar into the brew and offered it to the boy who took it until he got drunk and slept. I then locked him up in the room before going back to Mrs Katsande’s homestead for more beer,” he said.
Shamba said that when the community launched a search party, the uncle Tapiwa Makore (Senior) participated with everyone else and only returned after the search was called off at around midnight. When he returned he said that they should take the boy to a nearby mountain to kill 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,”
Shamba also explained how Tapiwa’s torso came to be discovered the next morning, saying that he dropped it on purpose because it was becoming too heavy.
“The bag was now heavier and dogs were barking. I had to quickly drop the torso and proceeded with the head,” he said.
The next day, Tapiwa’s uncle instructed him to dump the arms and legs at a nearby grave as he was feeling the heat from the police presence in the area.
Police are still hunting for the third man who is said to be a witch doctor. He is alleged to have promised the pair US$1 500. However, the money was supposed to be delivered at a later date and the two got nabbed before they could enjoy their blood money.
Published: September 28, 2020 By: iHarare – Tim E. Ndoro
The horrific case of a 7-year-old boy who was killed for ritual purposes in Murehwa has taken a new twist after the deceased’s uncle was arrested in connection with the sacrificial killing.
7-year-old Tapiwa Makore was murdered last week after he was waylaid by Tafadzwa Shamba, who worked as a herder at a nearby household. Tapiwa is reported to have been held hostage in a mountain before he was killed. After committing the heinous murder, the suspects hacked off Tapiwa’s head, arms, and legs, leaving his torso behind.
Tapiwa’s body was only discovered the next day when a neighbor was shocked to come across his dogs feasting on the boy’s remains.
Following fast investigations, the police arrested 40-year-old Tafadzwa Shamba for the ritual killing. Under questioning, he is reported to have said that he committed the dastardly deed with two accomplices.
The herder went on to say that one of the accomplices, who hails from Juru Growth Point, took Tapiwa’s head with him and promised to pay him US$1 500 when he returned to collect more body parts. Shamba was arrested before he could receive his blood money.
Frighteningly, a fire-singed child’s palm, a jaw with seven lower teeth, two skulls, and other body pieces were discovered at the crime scene. This means, that Shamba and his accomplices have probably committed multiple murders for ritual purposes. It is yet to be established how many young children may have met their untimely deaths in this horrific manner.
In a twist to the case, the police have now arrested Tapiwa’s uncle in connection with his nephew’s ritual killing. According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the deceased’s uncle is also called Tapiwa Makore and he is the one who employed Shamba as his herdboy.
The 57-year-old uncle was arrested on Friday after he was implicated in the crime by Shamba. In a terse statement, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) said,
Tapiwa Makore (57) who employed Tafadzwa Shamba as a herd boy was arrested by police on 25/9/20 after being implicated in the murder of Tapiwa Makore (7) in Murewa. He is the victim’s uncle and investigations into the matter are continuing.
The police are yet to release further detail on the matter.
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.
Warning: the article reproduced below contains graphic details of the heinous crime committed (webmaster FVDK).
Successful surgery of boy rescued from ritual sacrifice
The victim, Robert Mukwaya – ‘Doctors are confident in helping him improve.’
Published: February 25, 2020 By: Uganda Christian News
Robert Mukwaya suffered severe spinal injuries in 2014, it was thought he would never walk again.
He had been resting in his grandmother’s kitchen in Mukono district when a witch doctor heartlessly dragged him out of the room and stabbed him in the neck, leaving him with a spinal damage and feet permanently facing down.
Robert was left paralysed, but the surgery he had on 20th February, 2020 at Shriners Hospitals for Children – Salt Lake City, USA might change his story.
Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, a Christian charity organisation founded by Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga issued a statement saying the young man’s surgery was “all success.”
He had a “big operation on his hip, foot and hands” among other areas.
“More prayers for healing,” the statement read. “He has done very well this brave and strong miracle gem! His post operation recovery is longer, but doctors are confident in helping him improve.”
Kyampisi Childcare Ministries helps child sacrifice survivors and their families rebuild their lives and overcome the trauma. The organization has helped over ten victims since its creation in 2009.
In an update shared online, Ms Anne Mitchell who interacted with Robert in USA before his Thursday surgery had this to say:
“Robert was unfortunately cut in his neck by a witch doctor. He was left with many issues especially in walking and using his arms. He was left a partial quadriplegic. Hopefully his surgery can allow him to walk and move much better. He will need considerable rehabilitation, but Robert is a wonderful resilient boy. Praying for the best outcome possible.”
Since 2014 Robert has undergone a series of operations, all aimed at seeing him walk again. In 2017, he has surgery performed at the John Hunter Hospital in Australia.
“On that day I left him alone at home and went to the church to pray, when I came back I found him laying on a mat in a pool of blood,” Robert’s grand mother, Yowani Nakiwala told Transterra Media earlier. “His neck was almost falling off, the doctors worked on him and dressed him with a collar around his neck.”
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga told Transterra Media: “The condition we find them is quite sad, those that die, we find their bodies completely a part – they cut the head and drain the blood – They can cut the stomach and take the organs out of their bodies. They are shocking incidences, shocking pictures. Those that survive need huge medical attention.”
“Children are sacrifice because there is a growing belief that when you sacrifice a child, you get wealth, you get protection, you get healing and this belief which is a lie has spread all over the country and there has not been a tiger reaction from the Government or from people concerned to be able to educate masses that you don’t have to kill a child to get wealth or you don’t have to kill a child to get protection. Wealth comes from hard work, protection comes from God and because people are desperately poor and desperately in need of wealth issues, there is a witch-doctor in the community who claims to bring healing, to bring joy and happiness and blessings – the people go to that person and they are lied and they are sent for body parts of children,” Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga said.
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.
In the villages of Uganda a new breed of witch doctors is hunting and kidnapping children to cut off their ears, noses and genitals. Often the witch doctors decapitate the boys or remove whole arms and legs of victims. Witch doctor Kivumbi Awali is pictured after his arrest
Ritual killing of children by witch doctors takes place in Uganda, in East Africa
Body parts, blood or tissue are removed from boys and girls while they are alive
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga saves mutilated victims and hunts the witch doctors
His work is partly funded by generous donations from a small Australian charity
In the villages of Uganda a new breed of witch doctor is hunting and kidnapping children to cut off their ears, noses and genitals.
Sometimes the medicine men remove whole arms and legs or drain blood from a boy or girl’s body while the victim is still alive.
Sometimes the victim’s parents help decapitate their child.
Human sacrifice is not some ancient cultural ritual practised in this east African country, rather it is a barbaric modern way for cruel charlatans to make money.
Children in rural Uganda are kidnapped by witch doctors who torture and often murder them as part of a supposed spiritual sacrifice.
The witch doctors mutilate the children and use their blood, tissue or organs in rituals they promise can bring clients protection, prosperity and good health.
Child sacrifice survivor Allan Ssembatya was set upon in a Ugandan village called Busolo in 2009. ‘My son was coming home from school,’ his father says. ‘They took him to the bush. They cut him. This cut on his head, this cut on his neck, damage to his private parts…’
In one of the most macabre practices to have developed, children are decapitated and their heads buried in new building foundations to bring success to businesses.
Fighting this terrible trade is pastor Peter Sewakiryanga who saves children scarred by ritual mutilation, and helping him is a small group of Australians.
Pastor Peter, a former accountant, started campaigning against child sacrifice about a decade ago and runs charity Kyampisi Childcare Ministries.
He helps rehabilitate survivors and raise awareness of the practice, working with politicians, police, prosecutors and judges to bring offenders to justice.
Pastor Peter’s work features in an episode of the SBS program Dateline called How to Catch a Witch Doctor to air on Tuesday night.
The program follows Pastor Peter and Brisbane civil engineer Rodney Callanan as they hunt for a witch doctor who allegedly almost killed six-year-old Allan Ssembatya ten years ago.
Reporter Amos Roberts speaks to Allan’s father Hudson Semwanga about what happened to his boy in a village called Busolo in the district of Kayunga on October 21, 2009.
Justice Margaret Mutonyi is pictured with a girl whose hands have been cut off. ‘We have a society that believes in witchcraft,’ she tells the SBS program Dateline. ‘The majority of the population including Christians who go to church, they consult these witch doctors’Robert Mukwaya suffered spinal injuries so serious it was thought he would never walk again. He had been snoozing in his grandmother’s kitchen in a village near Lake Victoria when a man dragged him out of the room and stabbed him in the neck. He underwent surgery in Australia
‘My son was coming home from school,’ Mr Semwanga says. ‘They took him to the bush. They cut him.
‘This cut on his head, this cut on his neck, damage to his private parts, in my view it’s very surprising that Allan is alive.
‘What hurts me the most is that they were people that knew me really well, I grew up with them, I went to school with them. We used to treat each other as family.’
One of the two men accused of kidnapping and cutting up Allan is witch doctor Kivumbi Awali, who was secretly filmed by a BBC crew in 2011.
The crew posed as members of a construction company looking for a witch doctor who could bring their business prosperity.
They were introduced to Awali, who killed a goat for good luck at their first meeting, then a few days later explained what he said was his most powerful spell: human sacrifice.
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga holding Hope, a young victim of child sacrifice. ‘They prey on the desperation of the people who are sick and are poor,’ Pastor Peter told Daily Mail Australia. ‘Even the elite who live in the city and are rich are now engaged’ Rodney Callanan, from the Brisbane charity Droplets In A Stream, helps fund the pursuit of Ugandan witch doctors who have not been brought to justice. ‘Unfortunately, the police, the courts in Uganda are grossly underfunded,’ Mr Callanan tells Dateline
‘There are two ways of doing this,’ Awali was recorded telling the bogus businessmen. ‘We can bury the child alive on your construction site.’
‘Or we cut the child, and put their blood in a bottle of spiritual medicine. If it’s a male, the whole head is cut off, and his genitals.’
When Awali was finally arrested by police in the company of Pastor Peter and Mr Callanan he had a machete in his custody. As he was led away he complained his handcuffs were too tight.
Awali was charged with attempted murder and aggravated trafficking.
His case is still before the courts and if convicted he could face a death sentence or life in jail.
Allan is one of five child victims of human sacrifice Pastor Peter has helped bring to Australia for life-changing surgery.
‘Sometimes it’s difficult to talk about what happened to me,’ the now 16-year-old tells Dateline. ‘And sometimes when I talk about it I start crying.
‘I remember the injuries I got, I remember when I was taken, I tried to struggle to run, they hit me up and they did whatever they wanted. So when I think about it I cry.’
Pastor Peter is supported by a Brisbane-based charity called Droplets In A Stream which provides education and health care opportunities to victims of child sacrifice who survive.
A witch doctor advertises his work outside his house in Kampala, the Ugandan capital. ‘A traditional healer with powers over spirits solves all cases, demons, thieves, tooth decay, madness, fevers, appelipse, genital affairs’.
Doctors at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital and Brisbane’s Mater Children’s Private Hospital have operated on rescued children free of charge.
‘Australia has been so kind,’ Pastor Peter said. ‘These children would otherwise be dead.’
Witch doctors practising child sacrifice are motivated solely by money but pretend to be adhering to cultural beliefs to justify their crimes.
‘They prey on the desperation of the people who are sick and are poor,’ Pastor Peter told Daily Mail Australia. ‘Even the elite who live in the city and are rich are now engaged.
‘The problem is a national issue. It started in poor pockets of the community. Now it’s widespread.
‘It has crossed boundaries into families killing their own children.’
The extent of this trade is hard to judge but Pastor Peter says he works with between 20 and 25 cases each year.
‘The issue is done under such secrecy it’s hard to estimate numbers. I can trace it to ten to 15 years ago.’
Balluonzima Christ (left) and Rose Ajiba (right) hold a photograph of their daughter Caroline Aya, who was allegedly killed in a sacrificial ceremony in the town of Jinja in southern Uganda
‘It’s not part of our culture. It hides in our culture. It must be condemned.’
Droplets In A Stream, which Mr Callanan co-founded, also helps fund the pursuit of witch doctors who have not been brought to justice.
‘Unfortunately, the police, the courts in Uganda are grossly underfunded,’ Mr Callanan tells Dateline.
‘Many cases actually don’t go to court or to trial because of lack of funding. And that’s one of our biggest roles in this area and that’s financial support.’
Judge Margaret Mutonyi tells the program: ‘We have a society that believes in witchcraft.’
‘The majority of the population including Christians who go to church, they consult these witch doctors.’
Paul Odida, a repentant witch doctor, now helps Pastor Paul raise awareness of the issue of human sacrifice. He visits villages to explain how the witch doctors instill fear in communities
In one scene Pastor Peter examines photographs of a boy approximately ten years old whose body was found dumped in the bush.
‘So they cut off the ears, they cut through the neck and cut out the throat and cut off the limbs,’ he says. ‘Body parts were missing. The tongue, the legs, the genitals.’
The program also features Robert Mukwaya who in 2014 suffered spinal injuries so serious it was thought he would never walk again.
Robert had been snoozing in his grandmother’s kitchen in a village near Lake Victoria when a man dragged him out of the room and stabbed him in the neck.
He was left paralysed but surgery at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital two years ago has allowed him to regain the use of his legs.
In another scene Pastor Peter and Mr Callanan visit a village to warn about the practice of child sacrifice.
‘Why we are here is we heard of a story of a child who was sacrificed here and unfortunately the people that kill these children are among us,’ Pastor Peter says.
‘Please, if you know who killed our child, just come and tell us, call the number, we will even put a reward. Please don’t fear. If you fear, next time it will be your child.’
How To Catch A Witch Doctor airs on Dateline on Tuesday, June 25 at 9.30pm on SBS. It can be watched later on SBS On Demand.
Allan Ssembatya (left) with father Hudson and Pastor Peter (right) after learning of one of his alleged attackers, Kivumbi Awali, has been arrested
Executive director of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries in Mukono, Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga (M) receives a financial boost for his efforts to end Child sacrifice in Uganda during The Entrepreneurial Business School (EBS) Gala Charity Awards Dinner in Australia (Courtesy Photo)
Pastor receives funding boost for iconic rehab centre for child sacrifice survivors
Together, we will end child sacrifice, Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga says.
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga who runs Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, a Christian charity seeking to stamp out child sacrifice in Uganda, has received a cash donation of $134,225 (approximately Ush491 million) for a rehabilitation centre expected to be a safe place for children who have been victims of child sacrifice and trafficking.
Pastor Peter received the funds from the Bruce Campbell Entrepreneurial Business School whose founder and Principal Business Coach, Mr Bruce Campbell, has been extensively awarded for his work through various international bodies.
This happened in Australia over the weekend.
“We are humbled by the incredible continuous support of the Bruce Campbell Entrepreneurial Business School,” Kyampisi Childcare Ministries said in an update on Sunday.
“Thank you for this generosity, partnering with us in our efforts to build a new Trauma Rehabilitation Centre for kids abused through Child sacrifice and trafficking. What a community full of love and compassion. Together we will End Child Sacrifice,” they added.
Pastor Peter takes care of several child survivors of trafficking and human sacrifice and has built an extensive network linking communities and security to track suspected cases.
In his remarks earlier in March, Mr Bruce Campbell said, “This will be the largest rehab centre of its kind in Uganda (& maybe Africa). So honored to be a board member and help guiding this life changing organisation.”
The organisation, Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM) condemns witch doctors’ brutal ritual of child sacrifice, and has brought to books several culprits this year in the capital of Kampala alone.
In his recent interview with local media, Pastor Peter explained that victims of child sacrifice in Uganda carry with them serious and disturbing life scars and injuries which include complete genital mutilations, castration, deep stab wounds, missing tongues, ears, as well as emotional and psychological scars that need life time healing.
Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga (Courtesy Photo)
Working each day to bring Christ’s hope and healing to these children, Sewakiryanga’s devotion to the cause in 2017 attracted The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) who during an interview with the preacher, joined undercover detectives and armed police in a hunt for witch doctors accused of kidnapping and killing children.
“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.” Pr Sewakiryanga said.
Child body parts are especially prized in rituals because people believe mixing their blood with herbs makes a strong concoction that can cure diseases and appease local spirits. Genitalia are especially prized.
“The problem is increasing and many children are killed, and there are very few actually that survive, most of them die.” Pr Sewakiryanga added.
According to CBN News, Kyampisi Childcare Ministries is the only organization in the country providing long-term financial and medical care to 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.
He also works with Ugandan lawmakers to help draft specific laws targeting perpetrators of child sacrifice.
In 2018, Pastor Peter was one of two Ugandan activists recognised by The European Union (EU) for their tireless campaign to stop child trafficking.
He was credited for championing research and spearheading an awareness campaign in communities to stop the crime.
In the villages of Uganda a new breed of witch doctor is hunting and kidnapping children to cut off their ears, noses and genitals.
Sometimes the medicine men remove whole arms and legs or drain blood from a boy or girl’s body while the victim is still alive.
Sometimes the victim’s parents help decapitate their child.
Human sacrifice is not some ancient cultural ritual practised in this east African country, rather it is a barbaric modern way for cruel charlatans to make money.
Children in rural Uganda are kidnapped by witch doctors who torture and often murder them as part of a supposed spiritual sacrifice.
The witch doctors mutilate the children and use their blood, tissue or organs in rituals they promise can bring clients protection, prosperity and good health.
In one of the most macabre practices to have developed, children are decapitated and their heads buried in new building foundations to bring success to businesses.
Fighting this terrible trade is pastor Peter Sewakiryanga who saves children scarred by ritual mutilation, and helping him is a small group of Australians.
Pastor Peter, a former accountant, started campaigning against child sacrifice about a decade ago and runs charity Kyampisi Childcare Ministries.
He helps rehabilitate survivors and raise awareness of the practice, working with politicians, police, prosecutors and judges to bring offenders to justice.
Pastor Peter’s work features in an episode of the SBS program Dateline called How to Catch a Witch Doctor to air on Tuesday night.
The program follows Pastor Peter and Brisbane civil engineer Rodney Callanan as they hunt for a witch doctor who allegedly almost killed six-year-old Allan Ssembatya ten years ago.
Reporter Amos Roberts speaks to Allan’s father Hudson Semwanga about what happened to his boy in a village called Busolo in the district of Kayunga on October 21, 2009.
‘My son was coming home from school,’ Mr Semwanga says. ‘They took him to the bush. They cut him.
‘This cut on his head, this cut on his neck, damage to his private parts, in my view it’s very surprising that Allan is alive.
‘What hurts me the most is that they were people that knew me really well, I grew up with them, I went to school with them. We used to treat each other as family.’
One of the two men accused of kidnapping and cutting up Allan is witch doctor Kivumbi Awali, who was secretly filmed by a BBC crew in 2011.
The crew posed as members of a construction company looking for a witch doctor who could bring their business prosperity.
They were introduced to Awali, who killed a goat for good luck at their first meeting, then a few days later explained what he said was his most powerful spell: human sacrifice.
‘There are two ways of doing this,’ Awali was recorded telling the bogus businessmen. ‘We can bury the child alive on your construction site.’
‘Or we cut the child, and put their blood in a bottle of spiritual medicine. If it’s a male, the whole head is cut off, and his genitals.’
When Awali was finally arrested by police in the company of Pastor Peter and Mr Callanan he had a machete in his custody. As he was led away he complained his handcuffs were too tight.
Awali was charged with attempted murder and aggravated trafficking.
His case is still before the courts and if convicted he could face a death sentence or life in jail.
Allan is one of five child victims of human sacrifice Pastor Peter has helped bring to Australia for life-changing surgery.
‘Sometimes it’s difficult to talk about what happened to me,’ the now 16-year-old tells Dateline. ‘And sometimes when I talk about it I start crying.
‘I remember the injuries I got, I remember when I was taken, I tried to struggle to run, they hit me up and they did whatever they wanted. So when I think about it I cry.’
Pastor Peter is supported by a Brisbane-based charity called Droplets In A Stream which provides education and health care opportunities to victims of child sacrifice who survive.
Doctors at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital and Brisbane’s Mater Children’s Private Hospital have operated on rescued children free of charge.
‘Australia has been so kind,’ Pastor Peter said. ‘These children would otherwise be dead.’
Witch doctors practising child sacrifice are motivated solely by money but pretend to be adhering to cultural beliefs to justify their crimes.
‘They prey on the desperation of the people who are sick and are poor,’ Pastor Peter told Daily Mail Australia. ‘Even the elite who live in the city and are rich are now engaged.
‘The problem is a national issue. It started in poor pockets of the community. Now it’s widespread.
‘It has crossed boundaries into families killing their own children.’
The extent of this trade is hard to judge but Pastor Peter says he works with between 20 and 25 cases each year.
‘The issue is done under such secrecy it’s hard to estimate numbers. I can trace it to ten to 15 years ago.’
‘It’s not part of our culture. It hides in our culture. It must be condemned.’
Droplets In A Stream, which Mr Callanan co-founded, also helps fund the pursuit of witch doctors who have not been brought to justice.
‘Unfortunately, the police, the courts in Uganda are grossly underfunded,’ Mr Callanan tells Dateline.
‘Many cases actually don’t go to court or to trial because of lack of funding. And that’s one of our biggest roles in this area and that’s financial support.’
Judge Margaret Mutonyi tells the program: ‘We have a society that believes in witchcraft.’
‘The majority of the population including Christians who go to church, they consult these witch doctors.’
In one scene Pastor Peter examines photographs of a boy approximately ten years old whose body was found dumped in the bush.
‘So they cut off the ears, they cut through the neck and cut out the throat and cut off the limbs,’ he says. ‘Body parts were missing. The tongue, the legs, the genitals.’
The program also features Robert Mukwaya who in 2014 suffered spinal injuries so serious it was thought he would never walk again.
Robert had been snoozing in his grandmother’s kitchen in a village near Lake Victoria when a man dragged him out of the room and stabbed him in the neck.
He was left paralysed but surgery at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital two years ago has allowed him to regain the use of his legs.
In another scene Pastor Peter and Mr Callanan visit a village to warn about the practice of child sacrifice.
‘Why we are here is we heard of a story of a child who was sacrificed here and unfortunately the people that kill these children are among us,’ Pastor Peter says.
‘Please, if you know who killed our child, just come and tell us, call the number, we will even put a reward. Please don’t fear. If you fear, next time it will be your child.’
How To Catch A Witch Doctor airs on Dateline on Tuesday, June 25 at 9.30pm on SBS. It can be watched later on SBS On Demand.
