Witchcraft still dominates daily life in many African countries. A recent report by Amnesty International shows that in The Gambia, over a thousand ordinary people have been kidnapped simply because they are believed to be witches. Special ‘witch doctors' from neighbouring Guinea have been appointed to ‘heal' these people. But why is this strict belief still so widespread?
"Witchcraft normally occurs when there are severe problems in society, and obviously in African society, problems are rampant. People put the blame for these problems on ‘witches', as it's so easy to have someone to blame. It's an easy way out".
Enemy
Very often the ‘witch' is someone from people's own circles, or "an enemy within one's gates", as Professor Van Beek calls it. "It's easier to blame your co-wife or your neighbour for the problems you're in than someone you don't know", he says.
Although witchcraft is very common in Africa, there are the occasional crazes when there's an unexplained explosion of witch hunts. In The Gambia for instance, where according to Amnesty International, over a thousand people have been accused of witchcraft in recent weeks.
President
The craze began in January after the death of President Yahya Jammeh's aunt. He has accused ‘witches' to be responsible for her death and has since instructed intelligence services and his personal guards to go on what looks like a witch hunt. Even specially appointed witch ‘doctors' from neighbouring Guinea have been appointed.
The ‘doctors' randomly pick people from small villages and allegedly take them to detention centres, where the ‘witches' are stripped and made to confess and drink secret potions. According to the Amnesty report, at least two people have died from drinking these potions.
Generally accepted
The fact that even the President is involved shows how generally accepted witchcraft is in all walks of life of African society, says Dr Van Beek:
"It's very much present in politics and other power systems. It is often thought that people can't be really powerful without having something ‘in their belly', as they call it. So politicians and other influential people use witchcraft to eradicate evil powers".
Rational
With African societies more open to Western influences, one would think witchcraft would subside. But according to Dr Van Beek, that's not the case:
"It's not easy to eradicate. We Europeans have tried, but we did so with our own beliefs. And when you think about it, the belief in witchcraft is actually quite rational.
We are not used to ask ourselves why something bad happens to me and not to my neighbour. We just call it bad luck. But witchcraft does give content to the question: "Why me? Why am I the recipient of bad luck?", and it actually gives you an answer. So perhaps we should ask ourselves why we're not trying to find those answers, rather than laugh at African people who still believe in witchcraft".
Tags: Africa, Gambia, witch doctors, witchcraft