Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Presence and Influence of Witchdoctors in Uganda

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a professor of development anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) who has done research on local conceptions of health and healing in Uganda, stated that witchdoctors "exist in various forms all over the country" (Professor 7 Feb. 2017). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, an associate professor of social sciences at the University of Maryland - Eastern Shore, who has written on Ugandan social history and popular culture, stated, regarding the prevalence and influence of witchdoctors in Uganda, that "[w]itchdoctors are important and many" (Associate Professor 3 Feb. 2017). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Executive Director of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM), a Ugandan charity that works to rescue children from child sacrifice at the command of witchdoctors and traditional healers (KCM n.d.), stated that witchdoctors "are everywhere in the country, some more pronounced and known than others with their shrines operating nationally and held as influential figures in our society" (KCM 7 Feb. 2017). According to Narrow Road, an American aid organization run by volunteers and operating in Uganda and Honduras (Narrow Road n.d.a), whose programming includes initiatives to end child sacrifice, witchdoctors are "prevalent in rural Uganda" (Narrow Road n.d.b).

According to a 2011 report entitled Child Sacrifice in Uganda produced by Jubilee Campaign, a UK NGO that works to protect children worldwide (Jubilee Campaign N.d), in collaboration with KCM, there are approximately three million practicing traditional healers/witch-doctors in Uganda (Jubilee Campaign and KCM 2011, 56). Without providing further information, the same source further cites statistics provided by RACHO-Uganda, a Ugandan NGO which seeks to lobby the government for social reforms to end human sacrifice (RACHO-Uganda N.d.), as stating that "there are an estimated 650,000 registered traditional healers and witch doctors" (Jubilee Campaign and KCM 2011, 56).

In additional correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Professor of development anthropology stated that the term witchdoctor could mean "local healer", explaining that "[t]here are many varieties of those, and they provide different kinds of therapies," adding that "[t]here are also big variations across language and ethnic groups" (Professor 6 Feb. 2017). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, an assistant professor of history and African and African-American studies at Mount Holyoke College who has done research on Uganda, including on social history of the Buganda Kingdom, similarly stated that "the the role of healer might incorporate physical healing, fixing broken bones, etc., but also spiritual healing. Some people might call this a witch-doctor, although that term has negative connotations. There are variations among groups or clans" (Assistant Professor 8 Feb. 2017).

The Associate Professor stated that consulting witchdoctors "is normal for almost everyone" in Uganda (Associate Professor 3 Feb. 2017). According to a 2014 report on child on child sacrifice in Uganda from the KidsRights Foundation, an international children's rights organisation based in the Netherlands (KidsRights n.d.), "[m]any people in Uganda believe that a witch doctor can bring them business success, good fortune or good health through the performance of a ritual" (KidsRights Apr. 2014, 10). The Jubilee Campaign and KCM report states that it is "acceptable practice to consult traditional healers, diviners, witchdoctors and astrologers and this is now considered normal, even fashionable" and that "[t]his social attitude and acceptance of witchcraft has encouraged more people to openly consult witchdoctors" (Jubilee Campaign and KCM 2011, 49). The same source adds that,

[i]n modern times, witchdoctors have become well organised and use prominent advertising and promotion near their shrines. In addition, their radio announcements, advertisements and commercials publicised fantastic claims, alongside their use of print advertisements in the newspapers. (Jubilee Campaign and KCM 2011, 49)

According to the Executive Director of KCM, witchdoctors

hold constituencies that earn political value to politicians and government. They have traditional healers’ associations and have [a] decentralized system of government with a national leader elected every so years to represent their interests in Uganda. (KCM 7 Feb. 2017)

Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2. Treatment of Those Who Refuse to Succeed the Duties of Their Deceased Brother Who Was the Clan Leader and Clan Witchdoctor

Information on the treatment of those who refuse to succeed the duties of their deceased brother who was the clan leader and clan witchdoctor was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to the Assistant Professor,

[t]he concept of inheritance involves assuming elements of the personhood of a deceased relative. The person chosen to inherit assumes the social responsibilities of the person from whom they are inheriting. This might well include the request that someone assume the title, and the social and spiritual role that a relative had played. However, the way that this is usually thought of is that social roles that involve spiritual forces are not something that people choose for themselves - they are called to them in a way that is something similar to a Christian notion of someone receiving a "call" to the ministry. (Assistant Professor 8 Feb. 2017)

The same source added that "clan leadership would be seen as a moral and spiritual obligation to an extended family, and rejecting it would certainly disappoint family members; to refuse it would be seen as a profoundly selfish action" (Assistant Professor 8 Feb. 2017).

The Executive Director of KCM stated that

in all clans as I am aware, when someone dies, an immediate family member, is chosen by the deceased before they die to be his/her heir. Most often if it's a man, their son will be enthroned in a traditional ceremony where they pass on the mantle of responsibility to the heir first for family and if the dead person carried on some spiritual roles, this heir inherits the responsibilities without choice.

In any case, if the man didn't have a son, then the family or clan elders will choose an heir from the siblings to take over. This kind of duty cannot be turned down. If it's a female who has died in the family and is an adult, a daughter of the brother of the deceased is chosen most times against their will. I have been in contact with witch doctors caught on the wrong side of the law and most of them say that they inherited the powers to perform rituals from their parents or from a family member or they claim the spirits chose them to carry on the duties. Often they are threatened that if they don't carry on the duties, a curse will befall them. Among the curses is becoming mad, poverty, sickness or even death to them or an immediate family member. (KCM 7 Feb. 2017).

According to the same source those that refuse

are often abused, isolated in family and clan engagements and sometimes the community as a whole. If they are officially initiated or not but people know that he/she was the one to take over, and anything bad or worst [such as] death befalls the community, their property is destroyed because the community brands them as witches. I have witnessed those that have assumed powers through initiation and then branded as witche[s] and if a number of deaths happen in the community in a space of time, usually it's attributed to the person who was initiated into these witchcraft powers. Their children are branded as well as isolated. (KCM 7 Feb. 2017)

Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2.1 Within the Mpologoma Clan

Information on the specific situation of witchdoctors within the Mpologoma Clan could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to a website dedicated to the Buganda Kingdom in Uganda, the Mpologoma Clan is one of the clans found within Buganda (Buganda n.d.). The Professor stated that "the clan may also exist among another Bantu [-speaking] groups" in Uganda (Professor 7 Feb. 2017). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

3. State Protection for Those Refusing to Take Over Being a Witchdoctor

Sources report the existence of a Witchcraft Act in Uganda (KCM 8 Feb. 2017; KidsRights Apr. 2014, 1). However, the Executive Director of KCM indicated that this law "has not been enforced" (KCM 7 Feb. 2017). The KidsRights report similarly states that "[t]he Witchcraft Act makes witchcraft technically illegal in Uganda, but drafted during colonial times, the act lacks modern credibility and is rarely enforced," adding that "[m]ost crimes go unreported, and despite Uganda’s anti-witchcraft laws, most witch doctors act without fear of prosecution" (KidsRights Apr. 2014, 1). According to the same source,

[w]itch doctors are often highly respected by their communities and have strong ties with local and national politicians and governors. This creates a context in which witch doctors can operate with little or no risk of facing trial for their actions. (KidsRights Apr. 2014, 11)

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Assistant Professor of History and African and African-American Studies, Mount Holyoke College. 8 February 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Associate Professor of Social Sciences, University of Maryland - Eastern Shore. 3 February 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Buganda. N.d. "The Clans of Buganda." [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017]

Jubilee Campaign. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 8 Feb. 2017]

Jubilee Campaign and Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM). 2011. Child Sacrifice in Uganda. [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017]

Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM). 7 February 2017. Executive Director. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM). N.d. "Child Rescue & Rehabilitation." [Accessed 8 Feb. 2017]

KidsRights. April 2014. No Small Sacrifice: Child Sacrifice in Uganda, in a Global Context of Cultural Violence. [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017]

KidsRights. N.d. "Kid’s Rights: Children's Rights Organisation Fighting For Children's Rights All Over The World." [Accessed 8 Feb. 2017]

Narrow Road. N.d.a. "About." [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017]

Narrow Road. N.d.b "Rose's Journey." [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017]

Professor in Development Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). 7 February 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Professor in Development Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). 6 February 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

RACHO-Uganda. N.d. "Background to Human Sacrifice- Why We Do What We Do." [Accessed 1 Mar. 2017]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Emeritus Professor, Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics; Emeritus Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of London; Lecturer, Department of Social Anthropology, University of St Andrews; Professor of Anthropology and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Professor of Sociology, Makerere University, Uganda; Senior Research Fellow, Crisis States Research Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science; Social Anthropologist and Lecturer, Department of Education, Oxford University; Uganda Police Force.

Internet sites, including: African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect; AllAfrica; BBC; Daily Monitor; The East African; ecoi.net; Factiva; The Guardian; The Independent; International Business Times; Ireland Refugee Documentation Centre; IRIN; Saturday Vision; Uganda – Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development; Ugandan Diaspora; UN – Refworld; US – Department of State.