Loliondo saga: Desperate situations call for desperate measures

DESPERATE situations call for desperate measures is a pregnant statement that can rightly apply when it comes to the Loliondo drama. I call it drama because the way it is unfolding is far from real, it’s stranger than fiction story that is fit to be put in the Guinea's Book of Records.

With the medical profession and scientists having been rendered useless when it comes to finding lasting solutions (cure) for various diseases, most of them terminal, humanity has become so desperate to an extent that anything that they think can cure them is easily accepted without reasoning. Desperation is problematic in the sense that people tend to suspend their reasoning capacities as the drive to find a solution becomes too hard to resist, leading them to do silly things.

What boggles the mind is that even top government officials are sometimes duped into believing that a solution can be found where mere use of common sense will reveal otherwise. I remember that at the height of the economic meltdown in Zimbabwe, the country faced acute fuel shortages that almost crippled the whole economy.

And, from nowhere, a traditional healer duped everyone into believing that there was a sacred place where diesel could be taped from a rock. She drew the attention of the media whom she fooled into reporting her lies. Even respected ministers had to visit that area to see for themselves. They left the area convinced that there was a fountain oozing diesel, and to them it was a solution to the problem the country was facing.

It was only after a team of experts visited the area that the truth came out and the whole nation discovered that they had been duped. But, the government had already been swindled of a lot of money then. They were left without an option but to arrest, charge and jail the traditional healer. And, this all happened because of desperation.

On the same footing, Loliondo's magical formula seems to put us at a tight corner. We know that there is no cure for AIDS and the scientists have toiled all along for a cure in vain and yet at the same time we would like to believe that a Mugariga tree could be the missing link in the medical field. Yes, there is no reason not to believe it as a lot of people who claim to have been healed after visiting Liolondo have been forthcoming when it comes to giving testimonies of their miraculous healing.

Loliondo is undoubtedly the place to be for most Tanzanians right now as rays of hope seem to be filtering through. The availability of a possible cure for the dreaded diseases, most of them terminal such as cancer and HIV/AIDS has seen many people flocking the area which, in the past, has hit newspaper headlines for various reasons.

Loliondo never ceases to amaze me, early last year, President Jakaya Kikwete had to postpone handing over of two ambulances as there was a mix up when an official from Loliondo came to receive one of the ambulances meant for Longido.

“You are….. (as he was being introduced by the State House Comptroller), ahh, you are from Loliondo, this car is not yours, I won’t hand it over to you. It’s not yours. It’s for the people of Longido and not Loliondo,” the president said then. This was an embarrassing blunder that saw the media having a field day.

I also remember the barbaric eviction of the Maasai people from Loliondo. Eight Maasai Villages were unlawfully evicted and burnt out of their homes in Loliondo, Ngorongoro, in July 2009. The burnings and harassment continued into late August 2009. The evictions were carried out by the Police Paramilitary Unit (FFU) and employees of Ortello Business Company (OBC) during a harsh drought. As a result, some 3,000 people were left without any shelter, food or water.

The list of events is endless and one wondered whether something good could come out of such an area. The discovery of a magic cure by a former cleric, Mr Ambilikile Masapila, has put the area in the limelight once again. Thousands of people thronged that area in a short period of time in search of healing. One, however, is left wondering how the word spread so fast to the extent of triggering people to converge in their masses.

The situation was unbearable as it was fast going out of hand. A crisis was looming and the place was increasingly becoming a health time bomb. Ten people are said to have lost their lives while waiting for their turn to be healed. The government is to blame as it took too long to respond. In fact, some senior government officials, instead of bringing sanity to the situation, rushed to the area to get a share of this magic cure.

Some of them had to use their big muscles to jump the queue so that they could be served ahead of ordinary people. This invited a rejoinder from the medicine man who told them that they won't be healed if they are to use their powers and get preferential treatment.

I believe the government took too long to react and if they had done it earlier, sanity could have been prevailing in Loliondo. They would not have gone to the extent of ordering the man of the cloth cum medicine man to suspend offering his services. They were citing sanitation problems and lack of certification of the medicine administered. News has it that some of the medicine was taken for laboratory tests.

Though it might seem difficult for an ordinary mind to believe that a one size fit all cure have been found for most terminal diseases, I think it was high time the government gave the medicine man a chance. Miracles, as they were performed during Jesus' time, are mysterious and no human mind can comprehend them. In as much as mud could be used to open the eyes of a blind man, so can Mugariga be used to cure AIDS. I would like to bet my last cent that those laboratory tests will find the medicine useless, without any medicinal component but in the spiritual world, it the use of such “useless” things that usually provides the much needed answer.

The best way of testing the effectiveness of the medicine is to take volunteers who are suffering from various diseases and have them treated by the man of the cloth and then tested after wards. If they are cured of their diseases then there is no reason not to believe the guy. But, in the meantime, the people remain desperate to such an extent that, the suspension of services by the government is unjustified. They should relocate this “doctor” to a better place where there is sanitation and then limit the number of people visiting him.

As the government continues to deal with this sensitive issue, they should take into consideration the interests of wananchi first. You might never know, Tanzania might be the solution to the world's problems. But, only time will tell. God bless and guide us.

bongoblast@thisday.co.tz