africa – Pike & Hurricane

Witchcraft in Africa: Practice and belief

Leon Wafula — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 14:36:25 +0000

Growing up, I heard stories about extraordinary occurrences, that were created with the aid of supernatural powers and defied what was considered normal. These powers were either gifts or curses that were bestowed to a select few people, whom we casually referred to as witches or sorcerers. In Africa witchcraft or the belief of it has existed since people started living in communities. Witchcraft in Africa has been studied more extensively as a topic by many anthropological researchers.

In East Africa, the practice of magic has its origin in indigenous African religion. The practice involved the worship of ancestors and performing of rituals that people then believed would guarantee good fortune. With the introduction of exotic religions of Islam and Christianity, these religious practices were discouraged and later labeled as witchcraft. With colonialism, laws were introduced to criminalize these practices and harsh punishments were inflicted on the people that were suspected of engaging in these practices. However that did not stop people from believing and some from practicing it. These colonial era laws are still in force in many parts today.

Witchcraft today

Today witchcraft or magic is still practiced by some groups of people. The contentious issue surrounding it is whether it is real or just imagined. Skeptics argue that many people are quick to link anything that results from inexplicable events as being caused by supernatural powers, like witchcraft. Believers will try to give examples of events that they believe are the result of witchcraft.

The uses range from curing illnesses, creating good fortune, love, financial success, politics and protection from harm. On the negative side it has been linked to causing ill health, bad luck and misfortune to unsuspected people. It is also used as a form of punishment.

In medicine, herbs, incantations and animal sacrifice are some of the activities that are practiced by traditional healers known as witch doctors. Throughout Africa this is the most common type of use of witchcraft. People have testified of being cured from illnesses that modern medicine has failed to cure through the intervention of witch doctors. However, many people have fallen prey to unscrupulous people who pretend to cure only to take their money and fail to perform anything for the unsuspecting patient.

Love potions and spells are also an important part of witchcraft. The main reason women and men in their twenties and thirties visit witch doctors is to get lucky in love. These situations are typically depicted in many films and other works of literature because they form part of the general practice of people in Africa. In many Nollywood films, the main antagonist usually relies on witchcraft to secure their love interest and in most cases they succeed––at least at first. Witchcraft does not only win you love but it also helps you ward off potential rivals for your love interest.

In sports also as in other parts of human life witchcraft has a role to play. In football it is believed by many in sub-Saharan Africa that it affects the performance of players. In the 2002 African Cup of Nations, a former goalkeeper of Cameroon was caught burying bones under the turf and spraying a potion to cast a spell on the field before a crucial semi final game against Zambia. Many teams are also accompanied by witch doctors when going for competitions. Failure to win has often been attributed to the potency of the witch doctors magic against that of the rival team.

Also in politics the belief of witchcraft is rampant. Political leaders in many African nations are either believed to be practitioners of witchcraft or employ very powerful sorcerers who protect their lives, grant them charisma, and destroy their opponents chances of success. In most cases political competition is seen as a battle of who is better at witchcraft. In 2005 the Malawian President moved out of a 300 room presidential mansion claiming that it was haunted and his political opponents had something to do with it. This belief has stopped many upstanding and prospective leaders from engaging in politics for fear of being bewitched.

Tale or testimony?

In Tanzania, I heard stories of people who were subjected to a lot of weird forms of punishments just for doing something wrong to an elderly person suspected of practicing witchcraft. Healthy people would die under mysterious circumstances, some will be infected with diseases and some would have a cloud of bad luck hanging over their heads. Some stories are funny but some are so bizarre that only someone with very high levels of imaginations could make them up.

One such story was a young man who had a sexual relationship with a woman whose father was rumored to be a powerful witch. She got pregnant and her parents demanded the man to take responsibility over the pregnancy to which he refused and denied even knowing her. The father told him to tell everyone in the neighborhood or anyone else who he thinks might be the father of the unborn child to go and notify the woman’s parents and take responsibility for the pregnancy in one week or he should be ready to suffer the consequences.

A week later the young man started experiencing pregnancy symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, and abdominal pains. He visited a local clinic where he was tested and the results were just as shocking to the nurses as they were to him. He was told he exhibited all signs of a pregnant woman. He went home and told his family and neighbors about his mysterious illness. They all deduced that he must have been bewitched and the first suspect was the pregnant woman’s father.

He later went with his parents to visit her, carrying with him something to take to them as a token, demonstrating how sorry the young man was. The parents accepted their apology but the young man was forced to carry the pregnancy for six more months as punishment until in the later stages of the pregnancy it magically reverted back to the woman for her to give birth.

Other incidents have been reported in Kenya where thieves who steal livestock have started behaving like the animal they stole after the owner visited a witch who cast a spell on them.

Goat thieves start bleating and eating grass, cattle thieves start mooing and eating grass, and chicken thieves also start behaving like chicken. In some cases, people have been glued to items they have stolen and cannot remove them from their hands. Like in one occasion it was reported that a thief who stole a television set was unable to put it down and therefore he could only carry it everywhere he went until he decided to return it back to where he stole it from.

Some skeptics claim these stories are not true and are advertisements to supposed witches who are masquerading as gifted while they, in reality, are not. Others believe that these actions and beliefs whether true or imagined help act as deterrents for delinquent behavior.

The dark side of magic

In many societies the belief of witchcraft has played a major role in underdevelopment. People refuse to take part in activities fearing that someone will cause harm to them or a loved one. During the population census in Tanzania many clerks have expressed that people are unwilling to give correct information fearing that the data collected will be used to bewitch them. Therefore affecting the national planning process which relies on the data collected during the census. Some people also refuse to seek help believing that they have been bewitched and they are therefore beyond help.

Another negative effect of this belief is the killings that have been reported of people suspected of being witches. In most cases in Eastern Africa elderly women are accused falsely of practicing witchcraft and executed in public by angry leaching mobs. In recent years what has come to the world’s attention is the plight of people with albinism who have for years been killed and dismembered, whether against the belief that their body parts contain magical power or, quite the opposite, that they are cursed and bring misfortune. So-called “albino hunters” sell corpses for as much as US$ 75,000. Allegations against children are a novel, yet growing phenomenon, according to UNICEF. Children with unusual behavior, such as aggressive or solitary tendencies, run a risk to get accused of being possessed by evil spirits. Orphans taken in by family members or step children are found to be particularly vulnerable. The children face physical and mental abuse, are threatened to be killed, and often end up on the streets.

Despite its negative effects, witchcraft is still part of many Africans’ culture. Proponents of witchcraft claim that it is colonial stereotypes that have transformed an essential aspect of African identity to be viewed as evil. The belief in witchcraft has also been used in history to unite different groups of people to oppose colonial incursions in Africa. One such movement was the Majimaji Rebellion in Tanzania against German colonial rule which broke out in 1905 until 1907. A witch doctor by the name of Kinjikitile Ngwale raised an army from people of 10 different tribes. He gave them a potion with magic powers which they believed would turn the bullet fired by European guns into water. Therefore, rendering them useless. Unfortunately, the rebellion was defeated but the unity that this belief created still inspires many people today.

Related articles:

Witchcraft Brewery: The Dark History of Beer, Witchcraft and Gender

Kidnapped, Butchered, Offered: Human Sacrifices in the 21st Century

Photo Credits:

File:Live Witches.jpg, by SALTN, CC BY-SA 4.0

Serie MAGIE NOIRE, by supermonkeyfly photos, CC BY-NC 2.0

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A Brief History of Piracy and Globalisation

Merle Emrich — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 20:26:50 +0000

Piracy as a phenomenon is as old as the first ships. When we hear the word ‘pirate’, we mostly think about the buccaneers who roamed the Caribbean during the 17th and early 18th century, the Golden Age of Piracy, and inspired characters such as Captain Jack Sparrow and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Long John Silver. However, the history of piracy started long before that and is far from over. Throughout history there has hardly been a coast that has not been haunted by pirates.

Globalisation Enters the Stage

The connection between piracy and globalisation dates back to time immemorial. Globalisation is typically defined by technological development, international interconnectedness and interdependence through trade and exchange, not only in an economic but also in a cultural sense. With the division and specialisation of labour, trade networks expanded. First, on a much smaller geographical scale but over time these early trade networks developed and the Age of Discovery brought about an acceleration of the globalisation process.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century: We live in the era of globalisation. My laptop is made in China, the glass I am drinking from in Bulgaria, and the very idea for this article springs from an American TV series about pirates, filmed in South Africa with actors from all over the world. For the Western world globalisation means profit and new possibilities. But there are other parts of the world that are buried beneath the underbelly of globalisation. And that is where modern piracy comes in.

The Rise of Piracy in Somalia

Paul Brannigan, from the independent global media platform openDemocracy, describes that the shipping routes around the Horn of Africa, the coast of West Africa, and the Strait of Malacca are essential for our modern, globalised economy. And that is where, according to the IMB Live Piracy Map, most pirate attacks take place. In Somalia piracy was initially an attempt of fishers to protect their livelihood that by now has not only become an ‘industry’ but a serious security threat with economic consequences due to higher costs of security measures for shipping companies.

Due to its civil war, Somalia has not had an effective state apparatus since 1991, a condition international companies have taken advantage of. Since Somalia has no navy or coastguard its waters have become vulnerable to illegal fishing, and the dumping of toxic and nuclear waste off the Somali coast. According to the UN, the cost for European companies to dump their waste in Somali waters is about a hundredth of that for getting rid of it cleanly in Europe. The overfishing and pollution of the area have led to an undermining of the local fishing industry.

The UN has attempted to regulate the jurisdiction and ownership of the oceans through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which was implemented in 1994. But not only have these regulations increased the competition among local fishers due to limitations on the waters they are allowed to fish in, furthermore UNCLOS is ineffective in the case of Somalia because it is lacking the means to enforce the regulations and thus, prevent illegal activities by foreign companies.

Piracy in Southeast Asia

Something similar is happening in Southeast Asia. As in Somalia, UNCLOS has increased the competition and limited the fishing areas of the fishers. Those who therefore fish illegally become an easy target for pirates, and do not report the attacks due to their own illegal activities which only further increases their very own piracy problem. Since the 1950s new, more effective fishing technologies have been developed. Combined with the destruction of habitats of fish, such as reefs and estuaries, and water pollution it has led to overfishing and consequently increased poverty among fishers. In 1997 poverty increased due to the Asian financial crisis. Despite an economic recovery since then, there still is widespread poverty in many Southeast Asian countries, and indeed many pirates are unemployed sailors, fishers or taxi-boat drivers.

How Globalisation Fueled Piracy

Despite their geographical distance, these two examples of piracy off the Horn of Africa and piracy in Southeast Asia have more in common than just minor details. The exploitation of the sea off the coasts, the impacts of globalisation, and the destruction of the respective fishing industries have subsequently created the socio-economic conditions that have contributed to the rise of piracy. Moreover, criminal organisations use the given conditions for their advantage by, for example, hiring people who quickly need to earn money and lack employment prospects contributing to the transformation from opportunistic piracy to a piracy industry.

Yet, as we draw our focus back to Somalia, it is not only due to the socio-economic conditions in Somalia that so many pirate attacks occur there. The routes around the Horn of Africa, Africa’s west coast are important for international trade and therefore much trafficked which has been made possible by free trade agreements and plays into the hands of organised criminals.

According to Paul Brannigan, the advances in technology have led to significant social, political and economic progress in the developed world, but used by pirates they are turned into a weapon against it. In fact, technology is key to successful pirate operations: for instance GPS devices are used to track down target vessels, and satellite telephones are used for communication among the pirates. In addition, according to New African Magazine, many ships have relatively small crews due to the use of advanced technology which makes it easier for pirates to overpower that crew.

There is a sense of irony here. Globalisation has led to profits for developed countries who in turn exploit less developed countries creating issues such as piracy which then turn into problems for developed economies. And the advantages of globalisation turn out to be merely one side of a coin as they also play into the hands of pirates.

By Merle Emrich

Photo Credit:

Pirate Flag, Andrew Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0

Pirates Surrender, Defence Images, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Somalia, macalin, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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Crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Stuart Cosgrave — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 09:47:19 +0000

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country whose past is steeped in violence, conflict, internal strife and an ongoing humanitarian crisis. Throughout its history, this country has gone through numerous changes of name and regime. In recent years, it has become the location of one of the United Nation’s longest ongoing peacekeeping operations. Due to civil wars and natural disasters, over 2 million of the country’s 79 million inhabitants are internally displaced, one of the highest levels of internal displacement worldwide. A recent UN report states that over 180,000 civilians have been displaced between July and September of this year alone. Since 2009, over 60 percent of the people who were forced to abandon their homes were under the age of eighteen. These numbers do not even take into account the Congolese who are living as refugees in neighbouring countries.

As well as displacement of their own population, the DRC hosts 120,000 refugees from its neighbouring countries of the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and others. In addition to those who are without a permanent place to live, a huge portion of the population is food insecure with some estimates putting the number at seven million. This food insecurity again affects children, with the UN finding that three million children are malnourished in the DRC. This malnutrition crisis, as well as diseases such as measles and cholera, means that the DRC has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. In 2015, UNICEF estimated that the number of children per 1000 of the population dying under the age of five could be as high as 129, though this number has been decreasing consistently over the last few decades.

The UN operation has received criticism in the past for being too passive in their actions. One such incidence occurred in 2014 where peacekeepers ignored pleas for help from local villagers. The village of Mutarule in DRC’s South Kivu province was attacked and at least 30 civilians were killed. Despite being informed that there were armed assailants attacking the village, the UN forces chose not to take action. Whether the UN’s efforts in the DRC can be viewed as successful is up for debate, but there is certainly no lacking of manpower on the ground. It’s biggest peacekeeping operation by personnel. The UN has 22,498 people stationed in the country as of 2016. As well as the highest number of personnel, the UN’s mission in the DRC also has the highest budget with 1,235,723,100 US Dollars being pledged for use from July 2016 to July 2017. Even, democracy is questioned as a contentious election draws near. Delayed elections coupled with violence across the country, where 34 people were killed by militia this past November in eastern part of the country, it remains to be seen whether or not the crisis will improve in the near future. The question is whether the UN can deliver peace?

Stuart Cosgrave

Photo by CIAT

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