Thursday, October 13, 2011
Where Child Sacrifice is a business: By Chris Rogers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15255357
Schoolchildren are closely watched by teachers and parents as they make their way home from school. In playgrounds and on the roadside are posters warning of the danger of abduction by witch doctors for the purpose of child sacrifice.
The ritual, which some believe brings wealth and good health, was almost unheard of in the country until about three years ago, but it has re-emerged, seemingly alongside a boom in the country's economy.
Stephen's decapitated body was found in a field
The mutilated bodies of children have been discovered at roadsides, the victims of an apparently growing belief in the power of human sacrifice.
'Sacrifice business'
Many believe that members of the country's new elite are paying witch doctors vast sums of money for the sacrifices in a bid to increase their wealth.
At the Kyampisi Childcare Ministries church, Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga is teaching local children a song called Heal Our Land, End Child Sacrifice.
To hear dozens of young voices singing such shocking words epitomises how ritual murder has become part of everyday life here.
"Child sacrifice has risen because people have become lovers of money. They want to get richer," the pastor says.
"They have a belief that when you sacrifice a child you get wealth, and there are people who are willing to buy these children for a price. So they have become a commodity of exchange, child sacrifice has become a commercial business."
The pastor and his parishioners are lobbying the government to regulate witch doctors and improve police resources to investigate these crimes.
Sometimes, they accuse us of these things because we make no arrests, but we are limited.”
The Anti-Human Sacrifice Police Task Force, launched in response to the growing numbers, says the ritual murder rate has slowed, citing a figure of 38 cases since 2006.
Pastor Sewakiryanga disputes the police numbers, and says there are more victims from his parish than official statistics for the entire country.
The work of the police task force has been strongly criticised by the UK-based charity, Jubilee Campaign.
It says in a report that the true number of cases is in the hundreds, and claims more than 900 cases have yet to be investigated by the police because of corruption and a lack of resources.
'Quiet money'
Allan was left for dead after a vicious attack
Tepenensi led me to a field near her home where she found the body of her six-year-old grandson Stephen, dumped in the reeds. She trembled as she pointed out the spot where she found his decapitated body; he had been missing for 24 hours.
Clutching the only photo she has of her grandson, Tepenensi sobbed as she explained that although the local witch doctor had admitted to sacrificing Stephen, the police were reluctant to pursue the case.
"They offered me money to keep quiet," she says. "I refused the offer."
No-one from the Ugandan government agreed to do an interview. The police deny inaction and corruption.
The head of the Anti-Human Sacrifice Police Task Force, Commissioner Bignoa Moses, says the police are doing all they can to tackle the problem.
"Sometimes, they accuse us of these things because we make no arrests, but we are limited. If we get information that someone is involved in criminal activities like human sacrifice, we shall go and investigate, and if it can be proven we will take him to court, but sometimes the cases are not proven."
Boy castrated
At Kampala main hospital, consultant neurosurgeon Michael Muhumuza shows me the X-rays of the horrific injuries suffered by nine-year-old Allan.
They reveal missing bone from his skull and damage to a part of his brain after a machete sliced through Allan's head and neck in an attempt to behead him; he was castrated by the witch doctor. It was a month before Allan woke from a coma after being dumped near his village home.
Allan was able to identify his attackers, including a man called Awali. But the police say Allan's eyewitness account is unreliable.
Some children are cut to collect blood for rituals
Local people told us that Awali continues to be involved with child sacrifice.
For our own inquiries, we posed as local businessmen and asked around for a witch doctor that could bring prosperity to our local construction company. We were soon introduced to Awali. He led us into a courtyard behind his home, and as if to welcome us he and his helpers wrestled a goat to the ground and slit its throat.
"This animal has been sacrificed to bring luck to us all," Awali explained. He then demanded a fee of $390 (£250) for the ritual and asked us to return in a few days.
At our next meeting, Awali invited us into his shrine, which is traditionally built from mud bricks with a straw roof. Inside, the floor is littered with herbs, face masks, rattles and a machete.
The witch doctor explained that this meeting was to discuss the most powerful spell - the sacrifice of a child.
"There are two ways of doing this," he said. "We can bury the child alive on your construction site, or we cut them in different places and put their blood in a bottle of spiritual medicine."
Awali grabbed his throat. "If it's a male, the whole head is cut off and his genitals. We will dig a hole at your construction site, and also bury the feet and the hands and put them all together in the hole."
The attacks have created a climate of fear
Awali boasted he had sacrificed children many times before and knew what he was doing. After this meeting, we withdrew from the negotiations.
We handed our notes to the police. Awali is still a free man.
'No voice'
Allan's father, Semwanga, has sold his home to pay for Allan's medical treatment, and moved to the slums near the capital.
Sitting on the steps of their makeshift house, built from corrugated sheets of metal, I showed the footage of our meeting with the witch doctor to Allan on my laptop. He pointed to the screen and shouted "Awali!" confirming he is the man who attacked him.
Pastor Sewakiryanga says without the full force of the law, there is little that can be done to protect Uganda's children from the belief in the power of human sacrifice.
"The children do not have voices, their voices have been silenced by the law and the police not acting, and the people who read the newspapers do nothing, so we have to make a stand and do whatever it takes to stamp out this evil, we can only pray that the government will listen."
The villages and farming communities that surround Uganda's capital, Kampala, are gripped by fear.
Schoolchildren are closely watched by teachers and parents as they make their way home from school. In playgrounds and on the roadside are posters warning of the danger of abduction by witch doctors for the purpose of child sacrifice.
The ritual, which some believe brings wealth and good health, was almost unheard of in the country until about three years ago, but it has re-emerged, seemingly alongside a boom in the country's economy.
Stephen's decapitated body was found in a field The mutilated bodies of children have been discovered at roadsides, the victims of an apparently growing belief in the power of human sacrifice.
'Sacrifice business'
Many believe that members of the country's new elite are paying witch doctors vast sums of money for the sacrifices in a bid to increase their wealth.
At the Kyampisi Childcare Ministries church, Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga is teaching local children a song called Heal Our Land, End Child Sacrifice.
To hear dozens of young voices singing such shocking words epitomises how ritual murder has become part of everyday life here.
"Child sacrifice has risen because people have become lovers of money. They want to get richer," the pastor says.
"They have a belief that when you sacrifice a child you get wealth, and there are people who are willing to buy these children for a price. So they have become a commodity of exchange, child sacrifice has become a commercial business."
The pastor and his parishioners are lobbying the government to regulate witch doctors and improve police resources to investigate these crimes.
Sometimes, they accuse us of these things because we make no arrests, but we are limited.”
End Quote Commissioner Bignoa Moses Anti-Human Sacrifice Task Force
According to official police figures, there was one case of child sacrifice in 2006; in 2008 the police say they investigated 25 alleged ritual murders, and in 2009, another 29.
The Anti-Human Sacrifice Police Task Force, launched in response to the growing numbers, says the ritual murder rate has slowed, citing a figure of 38 cases since 2006.
Pastor Sewakiryanga disputes the police numbers, and says there are more victims from his parish than official statistics for the entire country.
The work of the police task force has been strongly criticised by the UK-based charity, Jubilee Campaign.
It says in a report that the true number of cases is in the hundreds, and claims more than 900 cases have yet to be investigated by the police because of corruption and a lack of resources.
'Quiet money'
Allan was left for dead after a vicious attack Tepenensi led me to a field near her home where she found the body of her six-year-old grandson Stephen, dumped in the reeds. She trembled as she pointed out the spot where she found his decapitated body; he had been missing for 24 hours.
Clutching the only photo she has of her grandson, Tepenensi sobbed as she explained that although the local witch doctor had admitted to sacrificing Stephen, the police were reluctant to pursue the case.
"They offered me money to keep quiet," she says. "I refused the offer."
No-one from the Ugandan government agreed to do an interview. The police deny inaction and corruption.
The head of the Anti-Human Sacrifice Police Task Force, Commissioner Bignoa Moses, says the police are doing all they can to tackle the problem.
"Sometimes, they accuse us of these things because we make no arrests, but we are limited. If we get information that someone is involved in criminal activities like human sacrifice, we shall go and investigate, and if it can be proven we will take him to court, but sometimes the cases are not proven."
Boy castrated
At Kampala main hospital, consultant neurosurgeon Michael Muhumuza shows me the X-rays of the horrific injuries suffered by nine-year-old Allan.
They reveal missing bone from his skull and damage to a part of his brain after a machete sliced through Allan's head and neck in an attempt to behead him; he was castrated by the witch doctor. It was a month before Allan woke from a coma after being dumped near his village home.
Allan was able to identify his attackers, including a man called Awali. But the police say Allan's eyewitness account is unreliable.
Some children are cut to collect blood for rituals Local people told us that Awali continues to be involved with child sacrifice.
For our own inquiries, we posed as local businessmen and asked around for a witch doctor that could bring prosperity to our local construction company. We were soon introduced to Awali. He led us into a courtyard behind his home, and as if to welcome us he and his helpers wrestled a goat to the ground and slit its throat.
"This animal has been sacrificed to bring luck to us all," Awali explained. He then demanded a fee of $390 (£250) for the ritual and asked us to return in a few days.
At our next meeting, Awali invited us into his shrine, which is traditionally built from mud bricks with a straw roof. Inside, the floor is littered with herbs, face masks, rattles and a machete.
The witch doctor explained that this meeting was to discuss the most powerful spell - the sacrifice of a child.
"There are two ways of doing this," he said. "We can bury the child alive on your construction site, or we cut them in different places and put their blood in a bottle of spiritual medicine."
Awali grabbed his throat. "If it's a male, the whole head is cut off and his genitals. We will dig a hole at your construction site, and also bury the feet and the hands and put them all together in the hole."
The attacks have created a climate of fear Awali boasted he had sacrificed children many times before and knew what he was doing. After this meeting, we withdrew from the negotiations.
We handed our notes to the police. Awali is still a free man.
'No voice'
Allan's father, Semwanga, has sold his home to pay for Allan's medical treatment, and moved to the slums near the capital.
Sitting on the steps of their makeshift house, built from corrugated sheets of metal, I showed the footage of our meeting with the witch doctor to Allan on my laptop. He pointed to the screen and shouted "Awali!" confirming he is the man who attacked him.
Pastor Sewakiryanga says without the full force of the law, there is little that can be done to protect Uganda's children from the belief in the power of human sacrifice.
"The children do not have voices, their voices have been silenced by the law and the police not acting, and the people who read the newspapers do nothing, so we have to make a stand and do whatever it takes to stamp out this evil, we can only pray that the government will listen."
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
50 Days until we walk again!
Dear friends,
once again, this July 9th, I will be joined by several folks for Rose's Journey. We will walk the 52 kilometers from my home village Bamunanika to Kiwoko hospital, where I first met my Irish parents almost 22 years ago. The reasons we walk, as we did July 2009, have not changed. The goals of the walk are three fold. One: we hope to continue raising awareness on the issue of child sacrifice in Uganda. The goal is to end child sacrifice, but more crucially, to also provide a wider platform for engaging the public and politicians to do their role by enacting appropriate laws and legislation to prosecute those involved in perpetuating these crimes. We also hope, that many of the unreached and affected children and families can come forward and be linked to existing child protection agencies (Lively minds, ANPPCAN Uganda) and other support organisations for victims of this crime. According to police reports, the slaying of children for ritualistic practices has steadily grown in Uganda in recent years. In 2007 at least 154 suspects (unofficial count) were arrested and only 50 of these went to court, But the number that ultimately went to prison is unknown. I suspect that most of these folks walked away. In 2008 more than 300 cases of murder and disappearances linked to ritual ceremonies were reported to the police with 18 cases making it to the courts. These can be depressing. The good news is that since the walk in 2009, there has been renewed interest in the topic with several world media outlets (20/20, BBC world news) highlighting the issue, and an official government police task force designated to tracking down perpetrators of the crime in Uganda. In addition, a hot line has since been established for families and communities to call the police in case of a sighted child kidnapping. There is a long way to go but we hope we can continue to build on this momentum.
Second, we hope to raise some money to support Hope ward, a charity wing of International hospital where some of the victims of child sacrifice have been able to receive some reconstructive surgery following severe mutilations by witch doctors. Hopeward also provides free advanced medical care to many destitute families who could never afford such services. Patients include: recipients of Uganda’s first open heart surgeries; cancer patients and treatment of complex conditions; victims of the war in northern Uganda; and abandoned children with HIV AIDS etc. Hopeward programs have also expanded to include community based programs (necessary to re-introduce children back into their communities where possible), and physiotherapy charity services that are needed for many of the patients who pass through Hopeward. For 15,000 dollars a year (to sponsor a bed), we are able to make services available to many of the patients who are admitted to that single bed. For details of what has been done with previous donations, please see our Narrow road web site http://narrowroadintl.org/Narrow_Road%3A_Hope_Ward.html for a recent news letter in case you missed it in the emails. I have also posted it here: http://narrowroadintl.org/Narrow_Road:_Hope_Ward_files/Hope%20Ward%20Update%20Jan2010Final.pdf
Third, we hope to raise some money for the nursing scholarship fund started in 2010. Through Rose's Journey we were able to raise 14,000 dollars towards the initial scholarships of nursing students at International Health Sciences University. We currently have 3 students who are receiving partial scholarships this June to help support their studies towards a bachelors degree in Nursing. The shortage of skilled nursing professionals in Uganda and other neighbouring countries is critical, and to be able to sustain programs such as the one's being provided on Hopeward (community based health care, acute care and care of children with complex conditions), we desperately need skilled and competent nurses at the front line of care. We decided on partial scholarships to allow shared responsibility with the surviving family members of each student. This also allows us to spread the money to cover not just one but several students in the program. This year, we hope we can raise 10,000 dollars towards this effort.
How to help: raising 25,000 dollars in the current economy is no simple task but any small contribution will be greatly appreciated. Several of us are walking all 52 kilometers. Please sponsor us for a kilometer or two or more as you feel led. We would also greatly appreciate your prayers for the walk and the fundraising efforts. More crucially for peace in Uganda. Eleven people are joining me from the USA and several others from the UK. A much larger group in Uganda will be part of the walk. Please pray that there will be minimal interferences from the police on the day of the walk.
To make a donation in the USA or follow us on the journey please go to our website http://narrowroadintl.org/Narrow_Road__Roses_Journey.html. (reference Rose's Journey). We are still working on the UK site. I will also keep this blog updated as much as possible.
I thank you most profoundly for being in this journey with me and many others. Whether you are able to walk with us, or pray, or encourage, or think about this work, your support keeps me grounded and inspired. I hope that this finds you all well.
Warm regards, and with gratitude,
Rose
nanyongaclarke@gmail.com
once again, this July 9th, I will be joined by several folks for Rose's Journey. We will walk the 52 kilometers from my home village Bamunanika to Kiwoko hospital, where I first met my Irish parents almost 22 years ago. The reasons we walk, as we did July 2009, have not changed. The goals of the walk are three fold. One: we hope to continue raising awareness on the issue of child sacrifice in Uganda. The goal is to end child sacrifice, but more crucially, to also provide a wider platform for engaging the public and politicians to do their role by enacting appropriate laws and legislation to prosecute those involved in perpetuating these crimes. We also hope, that many of the unreached and affected children and families can come forward and be linked to existing child protection agencies (Lively minds, ANPPCAN Uganda) and other support organisations for victims of this crime. According to police reports, the slaying of children for ritualistic practices has steadily grown in Uganda in recent years. In 2007 at least 154 suspects (unofficial count) were arrested and only 50 of these went to court, But the number that ultimately went to prison is unknown. I suspect that most of these folks walked away. In 2008 more than 300 cases of murder and disappearances linked to ritual ceremonies were reported to the police with 18 cases making it to the courts. These can be depressing. The good news is that since the walk in 2009, there has been renewed interest in the topic with several world media outlets (20/20, BBC world news) highlighting the issue, and an official government police task force designated to tracking down perpetrators of the crime in Uganda. In addition, a hot line has since been established for families and communities to call the police in case of a sighted child kidnapping. There is a long way to go but we hope we can continue to build on this momentum.
Second, we hope to raise some money to support Hope ward, a charity wing of International hospital where some of the victims of child sacrifice have been able to receive some reconstructive surgery following severe mutilations by witch doctors. Hopeward also provides free advanced medical care to many destitute families who could never afford such services. Patients include: recipients of Uganda’s first open heart surgeries; cancer patients and treatment of complex conditions; victims of the war in northern Uganda; and abandoned children with HIV AIDS etc. Hopeward programs have also expanded to include community based programs (necessary to re-introduce children back into their communities where possible), and physiotherapy charity services that are needed for many of the patients who pass through Hopeward. For 15,000 dollars a year (to sponsor a bed), we are able to make services available to many of the patients who are admitted to that single bed. For details of what has been done with previous donations, please see our Narrow road web site http://narrowroadintl.org/Narrow_Road%3A_Hope_Ward.html for a recent news letter in case you missed it in the emails. I have also posted it here: http://narrowroadintl.org/Narrow_Road:_Hope_Ward_files/Hope%20Ward%20Update%20Jan2010Final.pdf
Third, we hope to raise some money for the nursing scholarship fund started in 2010. Through Rose's Journey we were able to raise 14,000 dollars towards the initial scholarships of nursing students at International Health Sciences University. We currently have 3 students who are receiving partial scholarships this June to help support their studies towards a bachelors degree in Nursing. The shortage of skilled nursing professionals in Uganda and other neighbouring countries is critical, and to be able to sustain programs such as the one's being provided on Hopeward (community based health care, acute care and care of children with complex conditions), we desperately need skilled and competent nurses at the front line of care. We decided on partial scholarships to allow shared responsibility with the surviving family members of each student. This also allows us to spread the money to cover not just one but several students in the program. This year, we hope we can raise 10,000 dollars towards this effort.
How to help: raising 25,000 dollars in the current economy is no simple task but any small contribution will be greatly appreciated. Several of us are walking all 52 kilometers. Please sponsor us for a kilometer or two or more as you feel led. We would also greatly appreciate your prayers for the walk and the fundraising efforts. More crucially for peace in Uganda. Eleven people are joining me from the USA and several others from the UK. A much larger group in Uganda will be part of the walk. Please pray that there will be minimal interferences from the police on the day of the walk.
To make a donation in the USA or follow us on the journey please go to our website http://narrowroadintl.org/Narrow_Road__Roses_Journey.html. (reference Rose's Journey). We are still working on the UK site. I will also keep this blog updated as much as possible.
I thank you most profoundly for being in this journey with me and many others. Whether you are able to walk with us, or pray, or encourage, or think about this work, your support keeps me grounded and inspired. I hope that this finds you all well.
Warm regards, and with gratitude,
Rose
nanyongaclarke@gmail.com
Friday, January 21, 2011
Sacrificed
Nina Saada, narrates the story of George and others among the victims of child sacrifice in Uganda. Worth watching. Here is the link to the video http://vimeo.com/11167675
Thanks for being in the journey
Thanks for being in the journey
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