Witch Doctors Threaten Albinos Crusader in Tanzania

An Albino crusader in Tanzania says she faces continous death threats from witch doctors for suffocating their hunt for Albinos.

The executive director of Tanzania office of Under the Same Sun (UTSS), Ms Vicky Ntetema, says she still gets threats from witch doctors following her movement to overcome killings that people with albinism are threatened with.

The organisation deals with the protection of the rights of people with albinism.

She is acknowledged as a person who is struggling to overcome the problem of their killings in the country since she was working with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a journalist.

It was her story, at great risk to herself, which broke the albinism crisis in Tanzania to the world.

“They don’t like my movement, thus once I comment on anything in the media they phone me to ask why I keep on talking about the subject even though I don’t say anything about them”, Mrs Ntetema told The Citizen recently.

She noted that most witch doctors who threaten her were from Lake Zone regions where the problem is big and some were from an organisation of witch doctors based in Dar es Salaam.

Witch doctors have been condemned of being among the pioneers of killings of people with albinism since they make people to believe that they could be richer through body parts of people with albinism.

Ntetema explained that they wanted her to stay put so that they may continue with their nefarious activities untouched by anyone.

Said she:“I don’t fear the threats from them and it is better for them to threaten me physically than via the telephone,”

She explained that she could not report the matter to authorities since she went through a tough time before but there was no assistance from the police or other authorities apart from the foreign organisation that took her abroad.

However, she admitted that there were government institutions, including the health and social welfare Ministry which assist her organization to implement its plans of creating a peaceful environment for people with albinism.

TheCitizen

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