New anti-human sacrifice law gives victims ray of hope

Human sacrifice victims and activists in Kayunga and Mukono districts have welcomed the enactment of the Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Act 2020, saying it will curb the vice that is rampant in the two districts.
The new law, which originated as a Private Member’s Bill by then Ayivu MP Bernard Atiku, was assented to by President Museveni last month and it is being implemented.
They, however, say the law can only be helpful in fighting the vice if it is fully operationalised, noting that there are many good laws in the country which have over the years remained on paper.

According to the new law, human sacrifice and financing of the practice are criminal and punishable by death upon conviction.
An attempt to commit or finance the offence and spreading the belief in human sacrifice for financial reward or any form of gain, attracts a sentence of life imprisonment.
Mr Sam Luutu, whose elder brother, the late Tarsis Mutesasira, 60, was beheaded in 2019, and his head taken by unknown assailants, says some of the suspects were arrested by the police, but were later released on police bond.

“My brother was brutally murdered and whenever I look at some of the people (suspects) who are alleged to have taken part in the murder, I break down,” Mr Luutu, a resident of Kakoola Village in Kitimbwa Sub-county, Kayunga District, says.
Mutesasira’s torso was discovered lying in a pool of blood in his bedroom.
Two of the alleged assailants, both traditional healers, who are said to have used Mutesaasira’s head for ritual acts, are on remand.
Police told the media that preliminary investigations indicated that Mutesasira’s killing was an act of human sacrifice.

Mr Justine Opio, the officer in-charge of the Criminal Investigations Department in Kayunga District, cites another incident in September 2018, where a witchdoctor, Owen Ssebuyungo, 27, a resident of Kisoga Village in Nazigo Sub-county, Kayunga District, was arrested on charges of human sacrifice.
Security operatives recovered remains of five bodies from his shrine, where he had buried the victims in shallow graves.

Police managed to identify one of the deceased as a woman from Jinja District, who had gone to Ssebuyungo to seek his services, but was instead killed under mysterious circumstances.
Ssebuyungo is currently on remand at Luzira prison facing murder charges.
“We don’t know whether we will ever get justice because it is now four years since my sister was killed. We, however, hope that under this new legislation, we shall get justice,” Ms Jane Kantono, a relative of the deceased, says.

According to the police annual crime report, 22 cases of ritual murder were registered by police in 2019, while 45 similar cases were registered in 2020.
The latest incident of ritual murder, which is still fresh in the minds of residents in Kayunga and Mukono districts, is that of a father, Mbwire Musilumu, of Jjiira Village, Bbaale Sub-county, Kayunga District, who is said to have sacrificed his two sons in May. 
Mr Mbwire, who is currently on remand, claimed he had been promised Shs4m and a commercial building.

One of the bodies was recovered by police detectives, while the second one is still missing.
However, Mr Patrick Ssewakiryanga, the executive director of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM), a non-governmental organisation in Kyampisi Sub-county, Mukono District, which supports child survivors of human sacrifice, says the number of human sacrifice cases registered by police are less than those that are actually committed in the country.

 “The new human sacrifice law is a big win for every Ugandan child and is a gift to victims of child sacrifice,” Mr Ssewakiryanga, whose organisation currently supports more than 300 human sacrifice survivors, says.
He adds: “We now have a strong law that addresses all aspects of this crime (human sacrifice) and we have every hope that prosecution will use it to fight acts of human sacrifice.”

Mr Ssewakiryanga notes that the signing of the Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill into law is an indication that there is acceptance that there is a problem, which organisations like his cannot fight alone.
Rev Edward Balamaze of Ndeeba archdeaconry says the previous law was weak, leading to many suspects of human sacrifice easily getting off the hook.

“This law is long overdue, Parliament should have enacted this law even before the scrapping of the Presidential age limit,” Rev Balamaze says.
The Kayunga District chairperson, Mr Joel Kayiira, says if effectively implemented, the new law will reduce the discontent in society about criminals who commit such offences and after a few years, come back into societies where they committed the offences.

But Mr Geoffrey Najja, the Kayunga District Traditional Healer’s Association spokesperson, advises that the law should be operationalised carefully to avoid punishing innocent people.
“All along they have been saying we, the traditional healers, are the ones who carry out acts of human sacrifice, which is wrong. No genuine traditional healer can sacrifice a human being,” Mr Najja says.

Background
Greater Mukono and witchcraft
Kayunga District, like other districts in Greater Mukono, have a big number of traditional healers and witchdoctors. 
In Kayunga and Buikwe districts, at least one home out of 20 has a shrine.
In Kayunga District, authorities say the multi-ethnicity coupled with high levels of ignorance and high poverty levels among the populace have exacerbated the situation.
In the recent past, acts of exhuming human bodies have been rampant in the area, with traditional healers blamed for the act. 

After exhuming the bodies, the assailants take away the skull, which they reportedly use to make concoctions for treating their patients.
According to the 2013 Child Sacrifice and Mutilations report, one child is sacrificed every week compared to the seven cases of child sacrifice reported to the police in 2011. The report adds that people carry out human sacrifice seeking wealth and fortune, among others.