“Another decomposed body discovered in Kgatleng”, ran a headline in The Telegraph of August 11, 2010.
Elsewhere, the Police are awarding a P50, 000 reward to anyone who can help with information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspects in the murder of an 8-year old girl.
A few weeks ago a former teacher at Seepapitso Secondary School went missing until his decomposed remains were discovered.
These are just a few reported cases of suspected ritual or muti-related killings.
Apart from a handful of high profile cases like that of Segametsi Mogomotsi, many such killings are never reported or if reported, they are never taken serious by the Police.
Admittedly, by their nature the killing of persons for the sole purpose of harvesting some body parts for sale is shrouded in excessive secrecy, which perhaps explains, in part, why the culprits are difficult to nab.
However in a majority of crimes the Police have been able to make break through and arrest criminals. It is therefore a mystery that our police are still to convincingly deal with this barbaric trade in human flesh.
In most cases the Police almost always come under heavy criticism for not acting swiftly or not showing due interest in these cases when they are first reported.
The inability or should we say, the reluctance by the Police to commit themselves to deal with this problem as a specific challenge that requires a specialized national response seems to have emboldened perpetrators to intensify their trade.
As a result, the hawking of human body parts has become an integral part of our lives as a booming business. It is very unfortunate that the Police want to treat muti killings just like any other murder or any other crime.
Similarly, the silence of our political leaders in respect of this crime makes them accomplices.
After all, research has shown that incidences of ritual or medicine murder increase in times of political and economic stress (Jone, G. I (1951); Basutoland Medicine Murder: A Report on the Recent Outbreak of Diretlo Murders in Basutoland. HMSO. London). For a very long time, Batswana have had a very strong perception that powerful politicians are involved in this evil game, especially during a General Election. Our political leaders have not done much to dispel this myth and their silence in the wake of recent muti killings gives credibility to this perception.
We are not demanding that our political leaders incite people to mete out instant justice on suspects. But given the controversial status of ritual murders, we would appreciate it if our political leaders speak out against this practice.
They should come out clearly and in unambiguous terms condemn this practice. While they plead for calm at funerals of victims of ritual murders, they should not be seen to be dissuading people from seeking answers from the authorities or else in future, we shall make them provide those answers.
There is a strong feeling that such crimes are being covered by the state in order to protect the integrity of some key players who happen to be Botswana’s moneyed lot. There is no doubt that such practices are prevalent in Botswana even if we may pretend otherwise and this pretense is what makes people believe our leaders are some of the key players.
While ritual murders are extremely secretive and at times difficult to solve, they are nonetheless easy to identify. The Police certainly have statistics on ritual murder cases that would reveal the extent, patterns and trends of the problem.
As stated earlier on, without specialized response mechanisms and the requisite political will it is going to be difficult for the Police to make any break through in such cases.
The South African Police classify ritual murders as ‘stranger murders’ because unlike other murders, identifying the victim does not help much. Often there is no reason why the victim was chosen and nothing to connect the victim to murder.
Many times victims just happened to have been easy prey at the time. It is therefore my argument that since ritual murder cases are difficult to investigate and prosecute, the Police need to come up with a specific response mechanism rather than treat such cases like any other.
It may be helpful to note that the South African Police have a specialized muti murder investigation unit. Perhaps our Police could come up with a similar unit to deal exclusively with ritual murder.
It is noted that at the height of passion killings in Botswana a few years back, the Police thought out a coordinated response mechanism to stamp out the practice.
Whereas such instances are still reported, weekly Police updates indicate that the incidence of passion killings has decreased considerably. It is on the basis of the successes recorded in respect of passion killings that I sincerely believe that the practice of harvesting human body parts could be brought under control with a coordinated, dedicated and well resourced investigative unit.
I trust that our Police can handle this crisis and I can assure that if they are not impeded by political considerations, they can definitely make a break through.
Often when our Police fail to arrest and prosecute criminals, you should know that they are acting on instructions from their political superiors to take it easy.
However, a prerequisite would be the need for necessary political will to tackle the crisis head-on. Our political leaders must appreciate that ritual murders have become a dire challenge in the same way passion killings were a few years ago.
Once the political leaders publicly and sincerely denounce the practice, the Police would be challenged to come up with effective and tailored intervention strategies to prevent incidences of ritual killings, without fear of offending their political masters.
The public has increasingly become suspicious and convinced that our politicians are major players in this trade hence the reluctance or fear by the Police to intervene.
We therefore challenge our political leaders to come clean and declare their interests in this matter. As a starting point, the Police must convene a national conference involving all stakeholders to discuss the challenges presented by the outbreak of ritual killings in Botswana with a view to coming up with possible solutions.
Traditional doctors or dingaka tsa setso are also challenged to come clean about this practice. Ritual murders definitely give them a bad name and it is up to them to protect the integrity of their profession by rooting out quacks amongst them or else we will take it that they also operate as witchdoctors.
It is not asking too much from them to expose the perpetrators and customers of human flesh unless they are also key players in trading in human body parts.
Traditional leaders are also challenged to rise to the occasion and demonstrate their relevance to a modern Botswana by tackling what is fast becoming a national crisis.
They must have their priorities right and stop caning people for misdemeanors while they look disinterested as their subjects get butchered for body parts.
Churches must also endeavor to rescue the nation from this evil practice unless they want to give us the impression that they have surrendered to the powers of Satan.
Once in a while they must put aside their squabbles over tithes and hold collective public prayers to pray for the perpetrators and society at large.
Fear engulfs the nation; we dearly fear for our genitals which seem to have become more profitable than diamonds.
