Witchcraft scapegoat: Indigenous beliefs and violence against suspected witches in Kisii County, Kenya.

Abstract

The belief in witchcraft is deeply rooted among the Abagusii of Kenya. Research done in 2009 by Help Age International indicated that an average of six suspected witches are violently abused every month in different parts of Kisii county. Hostility against suspected witches manifests itself in killing, displacement from homes and destruction of properties thereby violating their human rights. This study aimed at explaining the contemporary upsurge of violence against suspected witches in the region. The main objective of this study was to explore the role of Abagusii indigenous religious beliefs in violence against suspected witches in Kisii county. Specifically, the study investigated the following objectives: to determine the indigenous Abagusii worldview on witchcraft, to ascertain the moral and normative foundation of violence against suspected witches, to establish causes of continued witch accusations in the Kisii county and to examine the repercussions of violence against alleged witches to stability of their families in Kisii county. This study is guided by René Girard’s “Scapegoat” theory and the functional theory of social sciences. The functional theory guided the study in explaining that Abagusii indigenous religious beliefs have a function in the current violence against suspected witches in Kisii county; it promotes violence against suspected witches; gives the moral and normative basis to violence against suspected witches and violence against suspected witches is a social control mechanism which reinforces and defines acceptable behaviour by imposing informal sanctions. The scapegoat theory leads into explaining that accusations of witches in Kisii county are diversions for blame of socio-economic changes which Abagusii worldview cannot explain. Both primary and secondary sources of data were utilized for this project. The primary data was collected through questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions. Purposive sampling was incorporated to access data from a sample of Kisii elders, traditional religious specialists, local government administration officials, human rights activists and youths. Thereafter, all the collected data was analysed and presented in descriptive form. The data was juxtaposed with photographs, graphs, tables, and charts. The findings of the research demonstrated that the increased violence against suspected witches in Kisii county is due to recent social changes that Abagusii indigenous religious worldview is unable to explain. It is also concluded that the Abagusii indigenous religious beliefs apportion blame on witchcraft as a scape goat to the weaker group such as women, the poor and the aged people as being responsible for the social strains evident in the society. It recommends that the Kenyan government should train policemen to handle violence against suspected witches’ cases and offer civic education to Abagusii on the impact of the belief in witchcraft. Campaigns should be done against violence against suspected witches and people who accuse others of practicing witchcraft should be arrested and prosecuted. To overcome the problem of scarcity of land, Abagusii should be encouraged to come up with eco-villages and they should be taught on alternative means of sustenance apart from land.