Albino Killings: Gross negligence?

Fear, tension and restlessness are the order of the day among the albino community in East Africa as increased cases of murder spread like wildfire among their ranks. One has to wonder why this community is being targeted thus. Traditional healers, or so called witch doctors, are in the best position to answer such a query. The witch doctors, who are earning a lot of money, getting cattle, houses and wives from their activities, claim that albino bones, freshly mixed with certain herbs, work as ‘medicine’ to improve romantic relationships and businesses. Perhaps, just maybe, the ‘medicine’ works, however, I believe that it is foolish for a normal human being to believe that the death of another human being will be the cause for his/her success in his/her endeavours. That is absolute rubbish. Any person with even a mediocre IQ wouldn’t believe in this destitute way of thinking that some of our African brothers still subscribe to, especially in this day and age. In Burundi eight people were arrested on Monday carrying human bones and flesh that belong to an albino. When I heard about it over the radio I was shocked. I started imagining how these people would face a judge. I wondered the kind of sentence a sensible judge would give these alleged murderers, especially in light of the circumstances? Death my conscience immediately told me. Such culprits should, and must, be dealt with decisively. In Tanzania, albinos are being killed day in and day out, and I wonder why the government has failed to protect them. Is the Tanzanian states impotence, in this regard, because it might be a failed state? Thomas Hobbes states that “life without an effective state to preserve order is solitary, poor, nasty, rubbish and short”. I think my Albino friends in Tanzania are living up to Thomas Hobbes theory. Albinos too are human beings whose rights to life must be observed and respected. They also require to be protected, as do any other citizens in the country. It is the sole responsibility of the government to make sure that the lives of ALL people are not terminated by a ruthless, and superstitious, bunch of people. The continuous stories of the killings in the world’s media reminded me of the stories they used to tell us about the albinos when we were children. There was a traditional, and a widely believed, myth in our communities that albinos did not die. They used to say that when time for the albinos’ death comes, they move to furthest forest and disappear; I actually believed these stories because I had never seen a burial ceremony of an albino. However since the stories of their killings dominated the media, I started to wonder. Perhaps the albinos, that were never buried, were taken by witch doctors to be used as medicine? Could it be that society has been negligent about the albino’s fate since time immemorial? Our governments must stand up and begin the fight the, historical ill treatment of albinos in our societies. I am also not reluctant to say that may be something otherworldly, some might call that ‘thing’ “Satan”, has taken infested the minds of some groups of people in our region. Cases of human sacrifice in Uganda have become daily front page news and the Ugandan police have reacted to it by burning all traditional healers’ shrines in the country. However, I think it is not enough. They should have gone a step further and banned all the activities of the traditional healers in the country. East Africa is a Christian dominated region and one wouldn’t expect such a region, with the majority followers of Christ, to have cases of this nature. As a Christian I believe that God’s intervention is very necessary in such circumstances but our governments must also play their part by either banning the activities of the witch doctors or by causing them to be penalized for activities that inflict harm on humanity. Contact: phatari@yahoo.co.uk