Whenever a person dies there is always a witch to blame

“Dust to dust” is the destiny of humanity and though it is painful it seems no one will escape from it. What makes even more mysterious is the fact that no one knows the day and time. In most cases, there are no warning signs to inform other people or the person who is about to finish his or her journey on earth of the impending departure.

This has made death more painful because today you are talking to a friend or relative then the other minute you are told that that person is no more. No matter how many deaths you come across in your family or of your friends, there is no way we can get used to it. It becomes more painful to those who would have remained.

We don't have proof yet whether the process of dying is painful, unless you have been involved in an accident but we know for sure that the death of person is very difficult to stomach for many people. Many people usually leave everything to fate, some will blame God for it while others will begin pointing fingers.

The country has been plunged into mourning after a ship capsized in the Indian Ocean recently. And, the people believed to have caused the accident seem to have been identified. Four people have been arraigned on various allegations in as far as the accident is concerned. Among them is the captain of the ship who was charged in absentia.

A question that however, remains is whether all the people concerned have been brought to book. Yes, the investigations are still going on and we are waiting for the report from a committee set but in this instance I will support anyone who believes the death was man made. It is unfortunate that people rush to blame God for the misfortune while they are the number one culprits. As long as we continue to have these flying coffins on our roads and floating coffins on our waters then we will continue crying foul.

Like I have mentioned earlier on, death remains a mystery to humanity and a lot of differing views have been held concerning the after life, but what is important to note is that life on its own is sacred and should be respected.

We have had a lot of people who try to help God by shortening other people's lives. In fact, Africans have never accepted that a person can just die without a cause. I am saying so because that they believe a person should live his or her life to the fullest and once one fails to do that then there is always a witch involved. This has seen societies coining a saying that can be loosely translated into Swahili as kunapotokea kifo lazima kuna mchawi aliyehusika.

Our image as a country has been soiled by those who took the law into their own hands and killed our brothers and sisters because they have a different skin pigment, the albinos. It's a shame that most of these killers have been fooled into believing that body parts of albinos can be used to make a fortune.

The superstitious reasons are absurd to say the least. I won't dwell much on it but it boggles one's mind when some people hunt others as if they are hunting animals for relish. To make matters worse the killing will be brutal and ruthless.

I think I am left without an option but to tow the same line with traditionalists that wherever a person dies, there has to be a witch behind it. When ever I talk of witches I am always reminded of the story of a person I used to share an apartment with.

This guy was never religious but I was shocked when he told me that he had the powers to see witches whenever they visited him at night. Some days, and this happened more often, we could wake up in the middle of the night due to noises made by this guy. Listening to the noises, I discovered that it sounded as if he was in a struggle with someone.

We could hear him telling those people to leave him alone and sometimes shouting obscenities to them while telling them to leave him alone. I personally used to wake up and go into the corridor to switch on the lights hoping to have a glimpse of these witches but I saw nothing.

Upon asking the guy, he would tell me that he had been fighting witches who would have visited him. I have never seen a witch at work though one of my friend told me that a person comes across a dozen of witches during the day. He told me not to expect to see witches from another planet as they are mere human beings most of whom we interact with almost on a daily basis.

I was, however, made to doubt the guy I talked about's story one day when he went to sleep early and left us watching television. We were surprised to hear him making the similar noises he always makes when fighting wachawi.

I rushed to his room and switched on the lights but I didn't see anything. I asked him what the problem was and he said witches had visited him. I was left wondering because in as far as I know, witches visit people in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. It didn't make sense to me that these so called wachawi move with time. Dear reader, I am not saying the claims by this guy are genuine or false, I leave that to your conclusion.

Witches do operate during the day, but the difference is that at night, they will be in their birthday suits while during the day they will be fully dressed. And, if we take a look at how many people die through out the world, then we will discover that our fore fathers were not only wise but had seen that a person cannot just die.

If a person is beaten to death by thieves or other people for one reason or the other, then his or her death is not natural. If a person dies due to HIV/Aids, then someone would have infected him with the disease and we can’t call that natural. If you want to prove that there is always a witch behind every death then look at any death you know and try to find the causes, there is always a person involved.

It remains true that adui ya mtu ni mtu. Because of jealousy, greedy and selfishness, we continue to kill other people without looking at the repercussions of our actions. Some of them we kill in the name of making money. Some are killed in the name of making profits when vehicles, ships and even buses are overloaded. Having killed the one you consider your enemy or through making money, how will the dead people’s children and other dependents survive? We continue doing it without considering the number of broken hearts the deaths will leave.

Instead of being death angels let's strive to protect and preserve lives to make this place good for everyone. May God bless us.

bongoblast@thisday.co.tz/symeniah.blogspot.com/0657651300