Not Every Traditional Ritual Amounts to Witchcraft

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

Not Every Traditional Ritual Amounts to Witchcraft

The Monitor (Kampala)
November 11, 2006



By Frederick Golooba Mutebi

I apologise in advance if you have had enough of the subject. I have more than passing interest in it, as I have witnessed and read about some of the destructive effects it has on communities where locals live in fear of being bewitched. There has been much comment in the press recently, about it. Common to all the commentary is a great deal of confusion about what witchcraft is.

In all instances, though, the commentators have assumed the posture of experts on a subject which, as their declarations show, they have made no effort to enlighten themselves about. Consider this: "senior government officials and politicians attending official functions organised by traditional healers has (sic) enhanced their popularity and encouraged more people to consult them thus increasing chances of witchcraft". This was said by World Vision(Uganda) boss Robby Muhumuza, (Politicians Blamed For Promoting Witchcraft, The New Vision ,Oct 31).

And one Aaron Kavuma, writing on behalf of 'Christians' said they were "terribly shocked when we saw our dear President ... Jumping over a white cow in South Sudan". President Museveni's much-photographed act was, in Mr Kavuma's opinion, "pure witchcraft" (Jumping Cows Sinful, Daily Monitor, Letters, Oct 26).

Pastor and former presidential candidate Abed Bwanika also put in his two cents' worth: "The revelation that our President got involved in a witchcraft ceremony in South Sudan ... Did not only leave us shocked, but also worried" (Bwanika Urges M7 To Repent Over Ritual, The New Vision, Oct 30).

Writing about 'witchcraft hotspots', Jan Ajwang describes the scene around a traditional shrine she visited in Mukono and then tells her readers that "Mukono has built a reputation for witchcraft". As for (some) women, she claims "they believe a man needs to be controlled ... So they use witchcraft to control him" (Daily Monitor, Nov 4).

And displaying confusion between love magic and witchcraft, Elizabeth Kameo writes of "women in Kampala" turning "to witchcraft to bring the magic back" into their love lives (Love Tricks For Wicked Women, Daily Monitor, Nov 4).

Deeper meaning

Contrary to what these and other commentators believe, the term witchcraft defines something specific, and is not a blanket name for traditional (or African) rituals. There are numerous anthropological and sociological studies of witchcraft in medieval Europe, the Americas, Melanesia, Africa, and other parts of the world.

Closer to home, there are studies on the Madi, Alur, Banyole, Bagisu, Lugbara and other groups, with chapters on witchcraft and traditional rituals. There is a consensus among experts that witchcraft is a malevolent force employed by individuals actively seeking to harm or kill others they do not like, using mystical or supernatural powers.

Closely related to witchcraft is sorcery, the use of material objects (not mystical powers) to kill others. The agents of witchcraft are not traditional healers, fortune tellers or even 'witchdoctors', but witches. The distinction between traditional rituals (as such) and witchcraft is made more explicit by the fact that whereas pastoral communities such as the Masai, Fulani, Hima, Turkana, Tutsi, Karamojong and Dinka among others practice several traditional rituals, they are not known to dabble in witchcraft, for reasons that are too complex to discuss in here.

There is no necessary connection between witches and traditional healers, the latter being, according to one expert, "health practitioners whose techniques resemble practices that existed before the spread of 'western' medicine".

For example, among the Shangaan people in South Africa, there are three types of traditional medical practitioners: herbalists (magedle); healers (inyanga); and diviners (sangoma). Magedle are not necessarily formally trained; they acquire knowledge of herbs through apprenticeship. Inyanga undergo formal training in diagnosis and healing. Sangoma are diviner-healers; they, too, are formally trained. Among the Zulu, sangoma uncover the real cause and meaning of an illness using divinatory techniques, while inyanga dispense treatment.

Besides these there are prophets (maporofeti), clerics of charismatic churches whose healing techniques include prayer, rituals, and the use of herbs and 'modern' medicines. This, I hope, will clear the confusion.

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