BAGAMOYO (Tanzania): The witch-doctors in the former slave port of Bagamoyo on Tanzania’s coast are busy concocting spells to help the east African country’s politicians win votes in this month’s elections.
“Some (politicians) started making regular visits five months ago. Others come at the last minute and expect me to help them win,” said Pandu, an almost toothless witch-doctor who boasts that he is one of the best in town.
Usually Pandu sees around 10 patients a day, mostly people looking for help with illnesses they believe are caused by demons. The politicians come at night or send a representative.
“One comes and asks, ‘Will I win or lose?’ If I say he will lose, he asks me to make his opponent fail,” Pandu said.
“I can’t say their names, why do you think they come at night?” he said, declining also to give his own last name.
Tanzania holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Oct. 30, with fears running high of violence in semi-autonomous Zanzibar, an opposition stronghold that has already been shaken by bloody clashes between rival supporters.
Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa will step down after the poll and most analysts expect Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete, 55, of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) to win the vote and replace him. It’s a prediction Pandu supports.
“Kikwete has already been chosen. I saw that a young person would win this election,” he said.
A majority of Tanzania’s 35 million people are either Christian or Muslim, but most also respect the animist beliefs of their ancestors and often consult witch-doctors for help with money problems, affairs of the heart and illnesses.
The coastal region of Bagamoyo northeast of the capital Dar es Salaam is renowned for the quality of its witch-doctors.
Pandu’s spells usually involve sewing a few verses written with a sharp stick dipped in red ink into the clothes of an aspiring legislator. The floor of his tiny consulting room is littered with unused pens and white paper strips.
But seeking other-worldly help to secure political victory should not be left to the last minute.
“You have to come even before the party nominations begin and make frequent visits after that if you have any hope of winning,” he said.
Other witch-doctors backed his prediction of victory for Kikwete, who is from the Bagamoyo district.
“(The age) 55 is a good number as he has crossed from 4 which is a negative number,” witch-doctor and astrologer Sheikh Yahya Hussein said in a weekly television programme.—Reuters
