Pastor-cum-diviner condemns ritual murders as archaic
The recent murder of an 18-year-old girl in the Kweneng district allegedly for ritual purposes, has once again put politicians, traditional leaders, businessmen and women as well as, tragically, church leaders on the spotlight.
Perhaps because of the sense of insecurity they feel due to the rather competitive atmosphere in which they work, politicians, businessmen, traditional doctors and church leaders are always fingered whenever there is a ritual murder.
Ritual murder is the killing of a human being whose body parts are then used to supposedly help the person using them either become rich, win an election or become influential.
The Member of Parliament for Francistown South, Wynter Mmolotsi does not understand why people, especially in this day and age, believe that charms can bring success to a person using them. The two-term opposition MP is an avowed Christian.
Mmolotsi first went to parliament under the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ticket before co-founding the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BDP). He said in an interview that his success as a politician had to do with hard work and prayer.
“Killing somebody for whatever reason is inhuman. Besides, people are created in the image of God. Because human beings have got a soul, you can not just kill one of them and get away with it. God has not given anybody the right to kill others,” said Mmolotsi.
MP for Francistown East Buti Billy (BDP) said that it is unfortunate that community leaders including businessmen have been associated with ritual murder. “This is a source for concern. The menace is very prevalent and it is up to politicians to lead the campaign against the scourge,”said the businessman who feels that the law should also be reviewed to close any loopholes.
An official of the Organisation of African Independent Churches (OAIC), Archbishop Brown Khupe said in an interview that charms from human parts probably worked in the past when people did not know God and worshipped ancestral spirits.
“Unfortunately, there are still people who believe in human sacrifices but they do not work any more. Besides, the laws of the country are clear: they do not condone murder,” said Archbishop Khupe who is also a traditional doctor and and official of Botswana Dingaka Association.
Declining to directly say whether a member of the Botswana Dingaka Association has ever been implicated in ritual murder, he explained that the association reserved the right to prevent such a member from attending to patients while at the same time rehabilitating him or her so that he may be re-admitted.
For his part, the President of the Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana (EFB), Master Matlhaope said that ritual murders do not only bring negative consequences to the perpetrators but to the whole nation as well.
“The spilling of human blood brings a curse to the nation as a whole. Instead of killing each other we must be each other’s keepers. We should be our brothers’ keepers. It is our duty as human beings to save life,” said Matlhaope adding that, when people pray for rain, good health and safety, it is hard for God to answer when some from the same nation are busy killing others.
Describing ritual murder as heartbreaking, he warned that even those who do not get apprehended by the police cannot escape God’s wrath.