By Marx Itamalo |
The police in the north have expressed concern with the rise in cases of bogus traditional healers scamming people.
This was revealed by police sources this week.
According to the police, fake traditional healers approach members of the public in different ways, in their get-rich-quick schemes.
These include, among others, calling members of the public informing them that some of their relatives have approached them (traditional healers) wanting them to be cursed or witched. They then demand money from them if they want to have the curse reversed.
“In Ohangwena, we have recorded, three such cases,” said Ohangwena police community policing officer warrant officer Andreas Nghiyolwa in an interview with Omutumwa this week.
“In one case, a woman in Ondobe village received a call from a person claiming to be a traditional healer. The person informed the victim that somebody took her photos to him, wanting her to be witched. The traditional healer, demanded N$10 000, if the victim did not want to be witched.”
The victim withdrew money and paid it over to the traditional healer. Only later, she realised she was scammed, when she heard somebody else was also cheated in a similar manner.”
Nghiyolwa indicated that the “traditional healer” disappeared from his residence afterwards, and no arrests have been made thus far.
Nghiyolwa said that two similar cases were also reported at Omundaungilo village in Ohangwena.
“We have been warning members of the public about these things for a long time but to no avail. We know our people are vulnerable but they don’t listen. They should stop heeding to these calls and report to the police immediately,” he stressed.
In Oshana, two weeks ago, an elderly man lost an undisclosed amount of money after he was scammed by a fake witch doctor.
According to Chief Inspector Thomas Aiyambo of Oshana Regional Police, the pensioner was called by a witch doctor who claimed that somebody took her daughter’s photos to him to have her witched.
“The lady did not want her daughter witched, so, she paid the money that she was asked to pay.”
Aiyambo said further police investigations indicated that the fake witch doctor is somebody close to the victim, and he took the victim’s daughter’s photos from social media.
“The suspect was arrested and is currently in custody. But unfortunately the money was not recovered,” he said, further warning members of the public to be vigilant.
Senior Inspector and Omusati police spokeswoman Anna Kunga, said in her region people fall victim to witch doctor criminal antics, but many of these victims willingly go to witch doctors to seek miracles and cure.
“They go there on their own will. However, when they get scammed, it’s when they come report to the police. In such cases, the police’s hands are tied and we rarely make arrests, unless there are strong grounds on which we have to vindicate our actions for making arrests,” she noted.
Kunga gave an example of a man who went to a witch doctor to have his son pass his driver’s licence test. He was allegedly asked to pay N$5000, so that the witch doctor can blind Natis testing officers.
“When the son did not pass, the man went back to the witch doctor to confront him. An argument ensued and the man came to report the matter to the police.
“In that case, what do you expect the police to do?” she asked whilst warning members of the public not to believe in superstitious deeds.
“He lost his money and that was all.”
Whilst witch doctors and traditional healers have been a part of northern Namibian society, where the practice is not uncommon and where they are believed to have been able to cure and cast off evil spirits and curses for centuries, many people have now began to impersonate witch doctors and prey on the misfortune of others, raking in tens of thousands of dollars in the process.
In recent years a lot of foreign nationals have also come in the Namibian society to practice as witch doctors.
However, seeing how lucrative the witch doctor practice has become, a lot of locals have also stepped in to scam people by pretending that they are witch doctors.
The police have been hard at work in the past years, cracking down on fake witch doctors, arresting some and in some instances deporting others who are not Namibians.
In the photo: Warrant Officer Andreas Nghiyolwa.
