In Africa, witchcraft encompasses a variety of beliefs and practices that significantly shape social dynamics. These beliefs influence how communities address challenges and seek spiritual assistance. However, the understanding of "witchcraft" in Africa has often been marred by misunderstandings, particularly due to Western scholars approaching the subject through a comparative lens with European witchcraft.
The definition of "witchcraft" can differ between Africans and Europeans which causes misunderstandings of African conjure practices among Europeans. Historian Jacob Olupona writes about religion in Africa: "...African religions are not static traditions, but have responded to changes within their local communities and to fluxes caused by outside influences, and spread with diaspora and migration". The people central to African religions, "including medicine men and women, rainmakers, witches, magicians, and divine kings ...
Let's delve into the historical context, beliefs, and contemporary issues surrounding witchcraft in Kenya and across Africa.
Pre-Colonial Era and Indigenous Practices
Pre-colonial Africa saw the existence of indigenous witchcraft practices, with some societies attributing supernatural powers to certain individuals. These beliefs ranged from beneficial powers like healing to malevolent forces capable of harm.
Witch Doctor Curing Witchcraft, Congo. Engraving, 1891.
Read also: Impact of Witchcraft in Uganda
Colonial Influences and Suppression
The arrival of European colonial powers introduced significant changes. Colonial authorities often viewed African witchcraft as superstitious and attempted to suppress or eradicate indigenous practices, leading to the criminalization and persecution of suspected witches.
For example, a Kenyan Witchcraft Ordinance was first established in 1909. It defined three criminal offences surrounding witchcraft: the claim of being a witch; giving advice on the subject of witchcraft or sorcery; and the use of such advice to commit any sorcery or witchcraft. However, under this Ordinance, the colonial government failed in many attempts to prosecute cases of witchcraft, as their rules lacked an establishment of proof. This can be credited to the lack of colonial understanding of the beliefs surrounding these supernatural forces.
In colonial Africa witchcraft was demonised and misunderstood. European officials lacked the essential understanding of the practices and traditions which would permit the comprehension of African witchcraft and its place in society. Instead, they viewed witchcraft through the European lens as something undesirable and threatening.
Post-Independence Era and Contemporary Issues
In the post-independence era some African countries continued to grapple with witchcraft-related issues, including accusations and violence. Witchcraft remains a significant aspect of many people's lives, with varying perceptions of its powers and dangers.
As of 2006 between 25,000 and 50,000 children in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, had been accused of witchcraft and thrown out of their homes. These children have been subjected to often-violent abuse during exorcisms, sometimes supervised by self-styled religious pastors.
Read also: Waste to Wonder: Flip Flop Art
In Malawi it is common practice to accuse children of witchcraft and many children have been abandoned, abused, and even killed as a result. In Nigeria several Pentecostal pastors have mixed their evangelical brand of Christianity with African beliefs in witchcraft to benefit from the lucrative witch-finding and exorcism business-which in the past was the exclusive domain of the so-called witch doctor or traditional healers.
Historian Deika Mohamed says this about witchcraft in Africa: "The practice of witchcraft is often divided between uwe and uoi, the former softly translated as witchcraft for healing and the latter as witchcraft for harm. Uwe, uoi and kithitu (oath-taking) possess nuanced meanings. Beyond violence, uoi may refer to a way-of-being, a substance or force and uwe is often used to remedy the ill-effects of uoi. Similarly, kithitu may also denote the employed objects during the oathing ceremony or empowerment of the oath itself; those who disobey forfeit their life by means of curse.
Ken Onyango is a well-educated business executive with what can be considered a successful and happy family. He not only lives in a prestigious neighbourhood of Nairobi but two of his four children are post-graduate engineering students in North America while the others hold lucrative jobs in Nairobi. Having left the ancestral village at the age of 12 when he joined a secondary school in Nairobi, Onyango rarely takes his family ‘home’. To them, the mention of the word ‘witchcraft’ conjures up images of a dirty, bare-chested elderly man with an animal skin around his waist holding some paraphernalia and chanting what they consider primitive magical words meant to harm people.
Accusations and Violence Against Elders
Older people, particularly widows, are increasingly becoming victims of a brutal wave of violence fueled by superstition and greed. Accused of witchcraft, many are attacked, displaced, or even killed by relatives or others seeking to seize their land or eliminate them from inheritance chains.
These witchcraft accusations have fueled a wave of violence, leaving thousands displaced and over 160 people dead, although leaders and advocates claim the unreported number of deaths far exceeds that figure. Older people are often stripped of dignity and security in their final years, forced to flee from their homes and seek refuge in over a dozen makeshift shelters operated by religious groups and humanitarian organizations.
Read also: Discover Sentrim Elementaita Lodge
In 2009, five elderly men and women were burned alive by villagers in western Kenya who accused them of bewitching a young boy. In 1995, Kennedy Kiliku, then Member of Parliament for Changamwe constituency, claimed that cabinet ministers had turned to witchcraft and devil worship.
The phenomenon is not limited to the coastal region, and reports appear in several areas of the country. Unclear or poorly understood land rights are contributors. Additionally, Kenya's development has led to an increased life expectancy. Currently, Kenya census data show that 6% of the population are older than 60, already exceeding UN population estimates, and the figure is expected to increase. As those women grow older, age-related conditions such as dementia are becoming more common.
In 2022, several human rights groups appealed to the Kenyan government to create an awareness campaign to highlight poorly understood mental illnesses affecting the elderly, including dementia, with the goal of reducing stigma.
Kenya's population is booming: 80% of its citizens are younger than 35, and thus 1 million people per year age into a labor market that cannot absorb them. Rural areas and youth aged 15 to 34 consistently have the highest unemployment rates, creating a large, growing portion of the population that's unemployed or underemployed.
71-year-old Kavumbi Mamanga, who lives in fear at Kaya Godoma Rescue Centre after she said she was brutally attacked by her children. (Courtesy of Global Sisters Report)
Diversity of African Witchcraft Beliefs
African witchcraft beliefs are incredibly diverse, encompassing practices from healing and divination to the worship of ancestral spirits and deities. Some of the most notable African "witchcraft" traditions include Vodun, Hoodoo, Santería, and Candomblé, each with its unique blend of African, indigenous, and sometimes Christian or Catholic influences.
Many of these traditions have roots in specific African ethnic groups and have evolved over centuries in the diaspora, particularly in the Americas and the Caribbean. They often involve rituals, ceremonies, and the use of herbs, charms, and divination methods to connect with the spiritual world and address various aspects of life, including health, prosperity, and protection.
Examples of Witchcraft Beliefs in Different Cultures
- Azande: Located in North Central Africa, the Azande perceive witchcraft as a potent force used to harm individuals. They believe it is hereditary and passed down within families of the same gender. Oracles and witch doctors play crucial roles in identifying witches and predicting disasters.
- Maka: The Maka people of Cameroon believe in an occult force known as djambe, that dwells inside a person.
- Kamba: In Kamba culture some people are believed to be born with spiritual powers to heal or harm.
- Zulu: In Zulu culture, herbal and spiritual healers called sangomas protect people from evil spirits and witchcraft. They perform divination and healing with ancestral spirits and usually train with elders for about five to seven years.
Voi witchcraft suspects accused of casting evil spirits on the mining site of a local business woman
The Role of Witchdoctors and Healers
In Zulu culture, herbal and spiritual healers called sangomas protect people from evil spirits and witchcraft. They perform divination and healing with ancestral spirits and usually train with elders for about five to seven years. In the cities, however, some offer trainings that take only several months, but there is concern about inadequately-trained and fraudulent "sangomas" exploiting and harming people who may come to them for help. Another type of healer is the inyanga, who heals people with plant and animal parts. This is a profession that is hereditary, and passed down through family lines.
Zulu Traditional Healer. Photograph by Chris Johns, National Geographic, 2023.
Witchcraft in the Black Diaspora
Conjure in Africa and the Black diaspora can be used for negative and positive purposes. In the Black Diaspora, the word Juju is used to describe all forms of conjure and charms made and used in African Diaspora Religions and African Traditional Religions that incorporate conjure into their religious practices. In the Caribbean, enslaved Africans utilized Obeah to attack their enslavers.
Scholars at Duke University have identified Bantu-Kongo cultural influences in Black populations across the Americas, particularly in the continuation of Nkisi and Nkisi Nkondi traditions and Kongo burial traditions among African Americans in the Southern United States. These practices, rooted in Kongo spiritual beliefs, were employed to ward off evil spirits, conjure spirits of the dead and ancestral spirits, and provide protection against withcraft.
Syncretism in Latin America
African witchcraft beliefs have exerted a profound influence on practices called brujeria in Latin America, especially in regions with incoming African diaspora religions, such as Brazil, Cuba, and the Caribbean. This influence is marked by syncretism, where African witchcraft beliefs have merged with Indigenous, European, and Christian elements.
Legislation and Misconceptions
As mentioned above, European misconceptions concerning witchcraft practices in Africa have continued to impact perceptions of this topic to this day, especially when considering the way witchcraft was practised by native Africans. The Basotho culture in Lesotho, formerly Basutoland under British rule, is a key example of the European misunderstanding of cultural practices, which facilitated the European demonisation of African culture.
It is important to view the phenomenon of witchcraft in Africa as different to the mass witch trials of sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe. Not only because it posits Africa in a position of ‘backwardness’ compared to Europe, but, in making this comparison, scholars have ignored the contemporary complexities that continue to fuel these beliefs. It is important to understand why and how the belief in witchcraft still prevails in Africa.
The Ralushai Commission in South Africa
In 1966, the South African government set up the Ralushai Commission in its Northern province, now Limpopo, to report on preventative measures to stop the murder of suspected witches. Unexpectedly, the report both listed and endorsed reasons for belief in witchcraft, proposing that a new Witchcraft Control Act should replace the previous Witchcraft Suppression Act. The proposed act would introduce a four-year maximum sentence or a fine for any person reasonably suspected of witchcraft.
The Influence of Media
The line between fiction and reality continues to be blurred to this day with anthropologists suggesting that Nigerian films and TV dramas are responsible for spreading the idea of witchcraft as a real threat. Witchcraft has not disappeared with modernisation, and the introduction of new technologies may have also influenced beliefs to fuel beliefs in witchcraft and the susceptibility of children.
Addressing the Crisis
The Catholic sisters and humanitarian groups running rescue centers have stepped in to provide not only food and shelter but also counseling and legal support. Many also run public education campaigns aimed at challenging superstitions and fostering respect for the elderly.
Activists are pushing for stiffer penalties for those who commit violence against elders, enforcement of inheritance laws, and a national task force to investigate witchcraft-related killings. They also call for international support - both financial and diplomatic - to assist shelters, pressure the Kenyan government, and raise global awareness about the crisis.
Table: Key Statistics on Witchcraft Accusations and Violence in Kilifi, Kenya
| Period | Number of Elders Killed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 - May 2022 | 138 | Haki Yetu Research (2023) |
| Current (as of 2023) | Over 160 | Leaders and Advocates |
| Weekly Killings in Kilifi | At least 1 | Kenya’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection |
Popular articles:
tags: #Kenya
