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| Features |
| Witchcraft rocking societies |
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by
Oris Chimenya , 21 October 2003
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14:21:57
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Gossip is rife here at a funeral house. People are trying to trace the cause of sudden death of a loved one. ‘Wamenyedwa ndi hamala’ (the deceased has been hit by a hammer), goes the gossip.
Nobody wants to believe it’s natural death. In between the cries someone is being accused. But it is only a small child? It is that child said to have cut short the deceased’s life.
You are stunned upon hearing that, and you have difficulties in believing the story. An incident about some children at Maone in Blantyre who were said to be practising witchcraft under the guidance of a certain man from the same area may further throw you into confusion. All the same, the dead has to be buried and your support is important.
The Maone witchcraft report dismayed the children’s parents. They organised a forum to share their concerns with other people of the area, and all to hear from the children about their night experiences.
Witchcraft, however, is difficult to detect because it is done in secret and those who practise it never want to talk or be talked to about it.
One of the people in the business of traditional healing and deliverance, Doreen Moffat, who operates from Blantyre says it is true that witchcraft in Malawi is widespread.
“Witchcraft is real in Malawi but nobody can know who is a witch or wizard unless they are injured through magic and want to seek help from traditional healers.
“It is, therefore, good that when those people are found, they should be punished heavily because they cause great harm to the society,” says Moffat, a close relation to the popular Doctor Ellena Moffat.
She says some traditional healers have tools for detecting if a person is a witch or not, without the people knowing that they are being screened.
After realising that one is a witch or wizard, the herbalists force the culprits to drink some concoction. When the person vomits or opens bowels it is deemed he or she has been cleansed of witchcraft.
Most people have sympathised with the Maone children, especially after hearing from one of them that the alleged witchcraft instructors are not in any way related to the children — they are just neighbours.
Said one child: “He takes us to the graveyard, where he feeds us either roasted or cooked human flesh”. She went on to say that the man does not allow them to disclose to anyone that they fly at night, and that once they do so, they will die immediately.
Another child who says was delivered by the blood of Jesus says although she has been delivered, there is still more to happen if the deliverance exercise is to be complete.
“I have been delivered, yes, but I need to vomit or open bowels so that the charms that were put in my stomach can come out,” says the child, aged 10.
She, however, says since she revealed the news to the newspaper last month, she has not eaten any human flesh, but her alleged instructor — who has since moved out of Maone — kept going to take her, in the night, to the graveyard, where he was whipping her as punishment for revealing their night activities.
Yet another child, who also claims to have quit the practice, says she regrets having killed two of her relatives.
“I killed two of my relatives, but now I regret. We kill a person by hammering them five times. Then they fall sick and die. After that, we pick the body, slice it and eat the meat for a number of days,” said the child.
One parent in the Maone saga said was told by her child to dispose all her clothes because they had contaminated evil powers.
“I have learnt many things. I used to like earrings most, but my daughter told me that they have evil powers. I will no longer use chemicals for my hair and I will keep it short forever,” says a seemingly freed mother, adding that she will now strive to look natural.
She adds that even most of the rings brides wear as they tie the knot are from the evil world — under the oceans — where she says there are nursery, primary and secondary schools.
Stories of evidence of existence of witchcraft in Malawi are plenty. One draws us to the attention of a mother who was told by her child that at night they [the children] were taking her to a certain place, where they were playing with her.
Another witchcraft-related incident is still fresh in the minds of Zingwangwa residents in Blantyre, where Sunday morning police had to fire teargas to disperse people who were baying for the blood of a couple alleged to have been teaching witchcraft to some five children in the area.
The accused, who both bled heavily after being hacked by the angry residents, denied the allegations, saying they believe in God and cannot teach the practice since they do not know anything like witchcraft.
UDF vice area chair Wasili Msusa said cases of witchcraft are common these days, citing another one that took place in a nearby Mibawa area recently.
But what does the law say on the occult? Many people have raised concern over the law’s silence on witchcraft because the law does not recognise its existence.
Chapter 7:02 (8) of the Laws of Malawi has this on witchcraft: “The profession or calling of witchfinder or witchdoctor or of professional maker or mixer of poison is hereby declared to be an illegal calling and every person exercising or pretending to exercise such calling shall be guilty of felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.”
The Director of Public Prosecutions Fahad Assani, in an interview recently, said he has been commenting on witchcraft issues for a long time and this time around did not want to talk about it anymore.
But Lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale says he remembers that before the new political dispensation [before 1993], there were people who were prosecuted under the Witchcraft Act.
“I am not sure if the Witchcraft Act has been repealed yet, but I remember that before 1993, there were people who were prosecuted under the Act,” said Kaphale.
Blantyre-based Agape Life Church Pastor Augustine Mgala confesses that the country is witnessing an alarming increase of witchcraft-related cases..
“There is a growth of this practice, especially in towns and cities. It is becoming a serious concern because it is involving innocent kids who do not know anything,” says Mgala.
He adds that with prayer and fasting, believers can bring witchcraft to an end.
Whether this is a profession of the presence of witchcraft or not, the issue frequently hits people’s ears and becomes more evident day by day.
In Africa, most societies admit that witchcraft exists, but it seems there is little that can be done to arrest the sinful act, especially considering that those involved are not willing to come in the open. But, if the belief that witchcraft is evil is universal, everyone has the duty to help in stopping the practice.
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