News

The Citizen Newspaper dated 13 April 2014 reported the spate of women killings for the past four months associated with witchcraft in Butiama District, Mara Region, North of Tanzania. Interviews conducted by this paper have established that small-time gold miners are said to be behind the spate of killings. The killings have been reported at several villages where gold mining is the main activity. Many people have pointed an accusing finger at the government over failure to contain the killings despite volunteering information which would have helped the law enforcers to nab people suspected to be behind them.

Comment

The ongoing killings of either women, albinos or other underprivileged groups in the society are only happening because democracy is letting them to happen. The democratic system propagates no belief in superstition but lets the witchdoctors operate legally and freely. In the previous years, we witnessed the killings of albinos due to the high demand of their skin and organs. It is believed that witchdoctors demand the skin of albinos to facilitate their witchcraft. These killings are common in Lake Zone regions especially Mwanza, Shinyanga and Mara. The people of these regions reacted angrily due to this sort of atrocity and in return they started killing the elderly while those who were lucky to be alive fled their homes.

When these massacres worsened, the government pretended to intervene but it was not able to stop them. In most cases, the government benefits from the existence of the witchdoctors and their operations because they help it to keep the masses ignorant as they sometimes play the fortune tellers by fooling the public with their predictions. Fortune telling is a popular business operating legally and many people earn income through it.

For instance, in the city of Dar-es-Salaam, almost everywhere you will find an advert of the fortune teller services. This is a clear failure of the democratic governments to guarantee the safety of the lives of their citizens and lack a proper way of dealing with witchcraft.

All problems which result from witchcraft can only be solved through Islam. The world will always remember when Prophet Muhammad (saw) once established the first Islamic state in Medina and how he expelled witches and magicians from town.Islam regards witchcraft as a criminal offence and is strictly prohibited.

Those proved to be guilty of witchcraft are punished with death. In reality, when the Islamic state of Khilafah "Caliphate" is re-established, we do not expect to have the problem of witchcraft any longer. In this case, the Khilafah "Caliphate" state will be able to preserve the sanctity of life, wealth and belief.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Kaema Juma
Member of Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in East Africa