Impact of interventions of the Murder of People with albinism in lake Victoria a case of Shinyanga region

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of interventions of the murder of persons with albinism in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. The study was conducted in Shinyanga Region in two Districts namely; Shinyanga and Kahama Districts. A total number of 100 respondents participated in this study, two focus group discussions sessions were conducted, each involving 8 participants and key informant interview was done to three traditional doctors used for capturing qualitative responses whereas data from 52 People With Albinisms (PWAs) and 29 stakeholders of PWAs including heads of households of PWAs, friends of PWAs, journalists, and advocacy officers were collected by using the structured questionnaires for the collection of primary data while documentary review was applied to collect secondary data. The study has revealed that, in Tanzania there is a high rate of murder of PWAs principally for ritual purposes. This belief directly led to the murder of PWAs by people desperate for success in the form of good luck and money. The core of this practice is witchdoctors. The eradication of such killings has become very difficult and complicated process. Poverty, low quality of settlements, absence of witchcraft law, and inadequate government readiness, to mention a few make interventions to fail and ultimately increase the murders. The study recommends on the urgent measures to assess and address the situation in asylums where PWAs are centered, to enact witchcraft law and provide public awareness, strong collaboration of all stakeholders, political will, and equal access to socio economic and political opportunities