Ageing: A death warrant for the elderly?

SIMBARASHE MSASANURI
Dar es Salaam

SAM (not his real name) is disturbed by the sudden illness of his son to such an extent that he fears losing him. Having witnessed his other child thinning away to death, he could not stomach a repeat of the horrible experience. And, with the remoteness of his village coupled with a strong belief of consulting traditional healers every time his family member falls ill, he quickly lifts his motionless child and commands his sobbing wife to follow him to a nearby traditional healer.

As they approach the traditional healer's place, the child's condition deteriorates further instilling panic in him and his wife. The traditional healer doesn't waste time, he quickly pretends to diagonise the problem and tells Sam that the child has been bewitched.

“Doctor, May you please tell us the culprit so that we can teach her a lesson,” said Sam, showing some traits of being inpatient.

The healer falls into a deep trance, roars like a lion and speaks in a deep horse voice, “. . . I can see, this person, is a close relative who is the first one to come to your house every morning and pretends to care for you and your family. The person is jealous of your wife and is out to revenge. That's all I can tell you!”

Coincidentally Sam's mother because of love and care, comes early in the morning to see how her grandchildren are, becomes Sam's number one suspect. In fact, he had suspected her for a long time especially from the time her eyes turned red.

With age catching up with her, Sam's mother is now frail, thin and the wrinkles on her face makes her look like a monster to such an extent that even her own children are suspecting her of being a witch.

And, with the fear of losing his son continuing to grow, Sam throws the hapless son into the arms of his wife and dashes home where he meets with his other relatives, informing them of the confirmation of their suspicions that the mother was the one causing illnesses in the family.

The next day early in the morning, people gather at Sam's mother's house as her body lies motionless in a pool of blood. The killers are unknown but the society is grateful that a witch has been killed. Not even the threats of the police could make the people in the society divulge the killers and the case is closed.

This is one of the living examples of what the elderly are going through in this country as they continue to pay the price of ageing. A lot of these women are killed, mostly by their relatives, on witchcraft accusations.

People in places where the killings are rife, due to the remoteness in some of the areas, depend on traditional healers who practice fortune telling, which contributes a lot to the killing of these innocent people, said HelpAge International Programme Manager, Flavian Bifandimu.

“Historically, the suspects were being isolated as punishment, with time it changed to marching them out of the village. They drove them to the boundary of the village and they get into the next village and if they are not welcome, would move until they find somewhere to settle. But now, people have resorted to killing the suspects.”

He said that in a research his organisation did in the areas affected by this social anomaly, the people in these areas tend to believe that anything that is not normal is associated with witchcraft.

“They consult traditional healers and older women, not men, are targeted because of red eyes. To them, that is an indication of witchcraft. But, we are forgetting that we are talking of someone who started using firewood and dried cow dung from an early age of 12 up to 60 or so years. Obviously their eyes will be red.

“They are being killed for the eyes that are red because they were cooking for their families under difficult circumstances,” Bifandimu said.

He also said that one of the issues that make these women get killed is that of property such as land.

“When there is conflict between a sister and brother over land or any other property and if the woman is tough to defend her rights, the brother will claim that she is a witch and once she is labelled a witch, she is killed.

“The community believes that the killer has done them good by getting rid of a witch. This makes the community not forthcoming when police officers try to hunt down the killers. This then makes it difficult for the police to get the culprits,” he said.

Bifandimu also blamed the problem on lack of awareness in the community because the Sukuma people believe that if you kill a witch it's not a crime and instead of exposing the killers, the society protects them.

It has deteriorated to the extent that it is risky to enquire with the police about a relative killed due to witchcraft reasons because the enquirer will be regarded as an accomplice and might end up getting killed also.

He went on to say that awareness on HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted will be important in fighting this problem. “If the community understands that HIV/AIDS is a disease and it's not a matter of being bewitched and if they could distinguish it from witchcraft, then inroads will be made. They also have to know that killing is a crime and they will be booked.”

He also said that traditional healers should be sensitised to stop fortune telling.

The security groups in these areas, commonly known as sungusungu meant to protect people and their animals, at one point grew in power to the extent of summoning village meetings, ordering people to vote for people they thought were witches and those identified were killed.

“HelpAge Internation with its partners sensetised these militia groups to leave the practice. After three years, there was a remarkable decrease in these killings. Religious leaders on the other hand are respected and have helped to educate people on these issue,” he added.

When it comes to the killings, Bifandimu said that there are youths who are paid for the job. Some of these killers are known to the public but they hide them. And, according to media reports the killers are offered between 100 000/- and 200 000/- per head.

“There are competent killers who are known to kill with only one strike. They need not to strike the person with a machete two times. These are not only known but are also paid more. So, to end this problem, both the one who killed and the one who paid him to kill should be brought to book.”

To solve the issue of red eyes, HelpAge International and its stakeholders introduced local efficient stoves where the chimney is placed to avoid smoke damaging the women's eyes.

Since ageing is a process that starts once one is born, there is need for this country to prepare for ageing and in the long run protect those who have come of age. The killing of the elderly women on superstition and witchcraft accusations not only infringes human rights but also tarnishes the image of this peace loving country.

Concerted efforts, therefore, is needed to end this madness at a time when life expectation has been reduced due to the dreaded HIV/AIDS ravaging the society . On the other hand the youths of today should be the ones in the forefront fighting killing of the elderly because when they grow old, it will become their turn to get killed.