In part five of our series on cannibalism and the related social upheavals in Uganda, Hope Mafaranga and Robert Atuhairwe focus on Isingiro district. And, in Kyenjojo, a story of how a priest, who challenged cannibals, almost got eaten.
The Police at Rugaaga in Isingiro say they get six to 10 witchcraft-related cases per month. Of these, three are over claims of cannibalism. An officer at the Police station, who preferred anonymity, said they sometimes get to know after violence has flared up.
"Reports about cannibalism and witchcraft are common, especially in Katooma village," he said, adding: "When locals suspect a person of being a cannibal, they lynch him. But we have failed to convict anyone because complainants do not have sufficient evidence."
The LCIII chairperson of Rugaaga sub-county, Mathias Tushabomwe, said on several occasions, they had arrested night dancers with babies feet. "You wonder where they get them. I think they exhume bodies of babies," Tushabomwe narrated. He cited Katooma as the leading village in witchcraft.
"We have caught more night dancers in Katooma than anywhere else. That partly explains the conflicts and violence in the area." However, Katooma LC1 secretary Hamuza Kasule dismissed the allegations.
"It is a tribal bias. Katooma is occupied by Bakooki, who originated from Rakai in Buganda. "Because we came from a different region, the Banyankole suspected us of practicing cannibalism, which is not true," he said.
Saturday Vision visited a renowned witchdoctor in Rugaaga, Hajji Ibrahim Mubiru, 66 and asked him about cannibalism. "I have heard about the claims, but never caught one red-handed. When we were young, there were many such stories," he said, mentioning Katooma, Nyamarungo, Endizi, Mbare, Kyanyanda, Rwangabo, Kihanda, Rugaaga and Bukanga as some of the villages said to habour cannibals.
According to Mubiru, there are families which are avoided because of the vice. "The families of Kaisi Segobwa, Musa Kaggwa, Mareju and Sitefano were suspected of practicing the vice, though no one had proof," Mubiru said. Mubiru explained that people can inherit the compulsion to eat human flesh after buying amayembe (spirits) to give them wealth. These fetishes can demand human blood, forcing their owners into human sacrifice and cannibalism.
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