Tanzania’s image globally at stake due to albino killings

Itilima. When you search ‘Tanzania’ on the Internet using Google, most links that you are likely to get in your search results will contain a phrase ‘albino killings,’ implying that this is how the country is partly portrayed globally, given the scope of coverage the Web offers.

Though most often incidents occur in areas around Lake Victoria, the widely reported killings of people with albinism have severely tarnished the country’s image globally.

Already smeared by the eldery killings, the Lake Zone is regarded to be the centre of most killings to the extent that some people have rated it as one of the most unsafest areas for people with albinism.

Shinyanga District commissioner, Ms Annarose Nyamubi, says after Ms Mariam Stanford - an albino whom she supported financially - refused to visit her in Shinyanga where she was posted after serving in the same post in Siha District, Kilimanjaro Region, it was clear that people with albinism feel the Lake Zone is unsafe.

“Mariam, an albino whose hands were chopped off by assailants, flatly refused to set her foot in Shinyanga, claiming it’s too dangerous for people with albinism,” explained Ms Nyamubi, who took care of Mariam, educated her and supported her to get self employment. The latter had fled her home in Ngara District after her hands were chopped off by assailants.

In close collaboration with civic society organisations, the media have helped to portray Tanzania as the most unfriendly country for people with albinism, while as well labelling its people as great believers in superstition.

The Citizen on Sunday’s recent survey on the situation after various campaigns to condemn the savagery, revealed that there is strong evidence suggesting that the killings are not a local savagery.

Ms Rebeka Makenza, a member of a civil rights and good governance organisation, ADL, that operates in the newly promoted Mbogwe District, Geita Region, says that incidents of chopping off of albino parts have never been a Sukumaland custom, rather a diabolic practice spearheaded by what she described as ‘dollarisation.’

“The whiff of dollar has fuelled the dirty business, as parts of albino, as most people claim, are said to cost between $2,000 and $4,000. It’s unlikely our witchdoctors, most of them extremely poor, can afford to buy the parts for their business,” she queried.

Under the Same Sun (UTSS), one of the human rights organisations operating in the Lake Zone, argues that there are all signs that the killings or chopping off of body parts of persons with skin deficiency has been a global phenomenon following reports that a network of influential people facilitated transportation of an albino from Kenya to Burkina Faso without a passport.

As revealed by UTSS president, Mr Peter Ash, the organisation was informed by a good Samaritan at the Kenya airport that an albino suspect residing in Tanzania, accompanied by three French speaking persons, was seen quarrelling with immigration officers who questioned their move to take the albino to the west African country.

“The incidents evidenced the albino body parts business is not solely a practiced by Tanzanians alone, but a global phenomenon,” he said in a recent interview with The Citizen on Sunday.

The UTSS boss went on to claim that the Kenyan incident helped in a way to absolve Tanzania, which was previously solely blamed to be the leader in albino killings.

“I think, there are many countries worldwide whose people engage in the illegal business. The world, however, points a finger at Tanzania after its media covered various killings extensively,” he says.

The Citizen on Sunday’s extensive tour of Shinyanga, Geita and Simiyu regions unearthed all evidences showing communities in Sukumaland are not as dangerous as portrayed by the media.

Ms Nyamubi and many others laud the media for a commendable job in exposing the killings, but say that it’s very unfortunate that the same tool has been used to ruin the country’s good image globally.

According to UTSS, 64 people with albinism were reported killed from 2006 todate. Additionally, she says that eleven graves were unearthed by people seeking albino body parts.

International media that covered albino killings claimed that the body parts of people who are born without skin pigmentation are used by witchdoctors in ritual potions meant to bring power and wealth.

Major recent killings were reported on January 31 in Tabora Region where a group of undisclosed people chopped off the arm of a seven-year-old albino boy, killing him and the 95-year-old grandfather who tried to shield him.

On February 5, in Simiyu Region, armed men attacked the home of a seven-month-old boy with albinism, but he survived, thanks to villagers who rallied to protect him. Six days later, in western Rukwa Region, five armed men attacked a 39-year-old mother. Five suspects were arrested and her arm recovered with the money because the limbs are being sold.”

An especially worrying trend is that the mutilations are taking place while the victims are alive. In some areas, the practitioners believe the magic is stronger, if a victim screams when the attack takes place.

“This is not just a Tanzanian phenomenon,” stresses Mr Ash. “The people who buy these organs spend thousands of dollars,” he said.

“A complete set of organs of a person with albinism fetches over $100,000. Now, you have to ask yourself, in such a black market who, in a poor country like Tanzania, has got that kind of money?”queries the UTSS president.

The Tanzanian government has publicly condemned the attacks in recent years. It has also opened shelters for albino people and called for the prosecution of witchdoctors linked to the killings. Those actions are believed to have helped to lower the number of attacks.