Botswana named in UN witchcraft report

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Friday August 6, 2010 00:00

The report released in April 2010 puts Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Cameroon, Namibia and Tanzania in the same class where involvement of children in witchcraft is common.

Senior Superintendent, Dipheko Motube, said this week that they do not have statistics on witchcraft cases in Botswana because there is no law that recognises the practice.

The report says that there are instances where people suspected of practicing witchcraft are executed by members of the public.

'Witchcraft accusations have represented the most visible manifestation of witchcraft belief. However, the nature of accusations is considered to have changed significantly. It was rare for a public denunciation to result in a stiff sentence or mob violence.

Sometimes the accusation did not name the witch directly, who was thereby required to revive or restore (from illness or misfortune) the suffering victim,' the report reads.

The report adds that a person found guilty would have to pay a fine or, in the worst case, be expelled from the village.

UNICEF also claims that presently, many populations indicate an expansion in witchcraft although this is difficult to measure.

'In contrast, it is possible to note that there is indeed a feverish exchange of ideas, discourses and debates about witchcraft, which is an undeniable sign of the crises that affect post-colonial Africa.

These post-colonial crises, political instability, civil wars and the general impoverishment of the population appear to have reawakened a general fear of the other.

'The coming of capitalism and the creation of wealth among a limited group has led to increased jealousy and envy. Such a context encourages the existence and frequency of accusations and, by extension, acts of extreme physical and psychological violence,' UNICEF says.

It further says that in a large majority of African countries, 13 executions of alleged witches have reached alarming levels. In Imagining Evil, anthropologist Gerrie ter Haar collected evidence of executions in the following countries: Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria and the United Republic of Tanzania, according to UNICEF.

It further says that an estimated 389 people were killed between 1985 and 1995 and 600 between 1996 and 2001 in Limpopo Province and the preferred method was lynching. While there is respect for human rights, UNICEF says that witchcraft accusations that end in extreme violence require a different response.

'Not only do such acts pose serious problems for civil society and African state institutions, but also for those who defend human rights,' it quotes one of the authors as saying.

The report also quotes media reports from African countries.