Two people die after drinking blended traditional herbs in Kole

Two people accused of having a hand in the theft of a vehicle distributor cable in Kole District have died after being forced to drink a concoction of traditional herbs.

The killer herbs were allegedly prepared by two native doctors from Butaleja District purportedly to help them identify the suspects.

A driver Nelson Ogwang, 45, and Jacob Okello, 27 (mechanic) first lost their senses, ate grass and later died on Monday evening. The incident happened at Tecambia ‘B’ Cell, Western Ward ‘B’ in Bala Town Council.

Trouble started after a local businessman identified as Jimmy Omuge hired the services of two witch doctors from Butaleja District in an attempt to identify the person who had broken into his vehicle and stolen some spare parts.

Mr Denis Obote, a resident, said Mr Omuge had suspected his driver Ogwang, now deceased, of having broken into his Nissan pickup registration number UAL 589H and stolen a vehicle distributor cable.

He said when the diver denied the allegations, his boss hired the services of two witchdoctors from the Butaleja District.

Indeed, the two native doctors journeyed to Bala Town Council on Sunday. On arrival, they found residents gathered at Mr Omuge’s home and asked whoever had a hand in the theft of the motor spare parts to confess. At this point, nobody took the witch doctors seriously.

“The witchdoctors then prepared a concoction of fresh leaves mixed with some liquid and forced three men to drink in front of the crowd,” Mr Obote told the Monitor on Tuesday.

Those who took the blended herbal medicine included the deceased Ogwang and Okello, and Tony Aber, who ran mad and was still eating grass by Monday.

Mr Samuel Elyak, the LC3 chairman of Bala Sub-county, said: “On Sunday night, three people started behaving in a strange way as if they were holding spanners in their hands and trying to remove something from a vehicle. Yesterday (Monday), they all went to Tecambia Trading Centre where people were gathered and started eating grass like goats.”

The North Kyoga police spokesperson, Mr Patrick Jimmy Okema, confirmed the incident.

“They performed their witchcraft and told the people gathered that the suspects will run mad and start eating grass. This took so long without any outcome, hence people became impatient since Omuge also claimed he paid Shs5.5m for the services,” he said.

At around 2pm on Sunday, people wanted to lynch the witch doctors. Luckily, the police were informed on time and immediately a team led by the Kole District Police Commander rescued them.

“However, on Monday at around 1pm, the two suspects now deceased started experiencing signs predicted by the native doctors and at around 4pm they died. The third person has also run mad and has disappeared from the area,” Mr Okema said, adding that the bodies of the deceased were taken to Lira Regional Referral Hospital’s mortuary pending postmortem.

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