Witch-doctors reveal extent of child sacrifice in Uganda

Uganda - an African country to the West of Kenya. That's about the only good thing I can think of to say about Uganda. Is there any hope for civilisation in central Africa when the inhabitants of Uganda still believe that killing a child and placing its heart and blood in a tin vessel will give them instant wealth? They may as well play the lotto - it would give them a better chance at riches. Seriously, this is very disturbing. These people are so superstitious that you can tell them anything and they don't question it - just scare them with the spirits or the ancestors and they're there, hook, line and sinker - and they pay these witch-doctors (wonder who's getting rich in this scam?)! Some people do this up to 3 times a week. That means 3 children are murdered a week for their body parts, per couple. And yes, before you wonder, South African Blacks also believe in muti killings and many a child has been murdered for this reason. They don't call Africa the Dark Continent for nothing.


Would you listen to him?



A BBC investigation into human sacrifice in Uganda has heard first-hand accounts which suggest ritual killings of children may be more common than authorities have acknowledged.

One witch-doctor led us to his secret shrine and said he had clients who regularly captured children and brought their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits.

Meanwhile, a former witch-doctor who now campaigns to end child sacrifice confessed for the first time to having murdered about 70 people, including his own son.

The Ugandan government told us that human sacrifice is on the increase, and according to the head of the country's Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce the crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly.

In the course of our investigation we witnessed the ritual torching of the shrine of a particularly active witch-doctor in northern Uganda by anti-sacrifice campaigners.

The witch-doctor allowed ceremonial items including conch shells and animal skins to be burned in his sacred grove after agreeing to give up sacrifice.

He told us that clients had come to him in search of wealth.

"They capture other people's children. They bring the heart and the blood directly here to take to the spirits… They bring them in small tins and they place these objects under the tree from which the voices of the spirits are coming," he said.

Asked how often clients brought blood and body parts, the witch-doctor said they came "on average three times a week - with all that the spirits demand from them."

We saw a beaker of blood and what appeared to be a large, raw liver in the shrine before it was destroyed, although it was not possible to determine whether they were human remains.

Extortion
The witch-doctor denied any direct involvement in murder or incitement to murder, saying his spirits spoke directly to his clients.

He told us he was paid 500,000 Ugandan shillings (£160 or $260) for a consultation, but that most of that money was handed over to his "boss" in a nationwide network of witch-doctors.

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