East African Business Week (Kampala)
Brian Coutinho
15 November 2008
editorial
LAST week it was reported in the Tanzanian media that police in Rukwa Region, (south west Tanzania) were holding a fisherman from Kalungu village for allegedly attempting to 'sell' his albino wife, one Janet Mlele to Congolese businessmen.
The police in the region through Rukwa Regional Police Commander (RPC), Isumo Mantage confirmed that the husband, John Josef was allegedly caught following a tip-off from a Good Samaritan. The wife had a price tag of Tsh 3.6 million.
The RPC said when the police raided the house of Josef and his albino wife, the two Congolese businessmen had escaped. Josef admitted that he cheated his wife by saying that he had struck a business deal with friends from the DRC and that he wanted her to meet them. Janet told the police that she wasn't aware that her husband wanted to sell her off to the Congolese 'traders.'Few weeks ago in Dar es Salaam, the albino community organized a big rally to denounce the ongoing albino killings in Tanzania.
The motives behind the killings being witchcraft. It is said that those who are involved believe that albino body parts bring great wealth to their businesses especially in the mining sector.
More than 20 albinos have perished in this primitive, barbaric and satanic business. Regions where the killings have been rampant are Mwanza, Mara, Shinyanga, Kigoma and Kagera. The four regions fall under the Lake Zone. Also on the list are neighbouring regions of Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Although President Jakaya Kikwete, who was the guest of honour during the rallies promised to protect the albinos by stopping the killings, the deaths have continued thus endangering the community of albinos in Tanzania. It may be translated that being an albino is a curse! But most alarming is the connection of Tanzanian "albino traders" and their fellow traders in the DRC and Burundi. It's our assumption that Tanzania alone cannot afford to prevent these satanic acts in society without involving other countries especially the DRC and Burundi.It's high time now the authorities in the region especially the East African Community (EAC) came out with a comprehensive plan to end up this menace.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 East African Business Week. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
