It

is a fact that superstitious beliefs have still remained a disease in

most parts of Africa even up to this century of enlightenment.

In 2006, the Kenyan government

ushered a new national development blue print in hopes of transforming

Kenya into an industrializing middle-income country providing a high-quality

life to its citizens by the year 2030. Titled

Vision 2030, this plan seeks to create a just, cohesive, and equitable

social development in a clean and secure environment under an issue-based,

people-centered, result-oriented, accountable democratic system. And

to make sure that the government remains true to that vision, Kenyans

voted in a referendum held on August 4, 2010, on a new constitution.

Not

surprisingly, other African sub-Saharan nations have also taken a keen

interest in Kenya’s strategic plan for the year 2030 and have also

placed the year 2030 as the deadline for their ambition to become middle-income

country.

The

above strategy has raised hope among many Kenyans, and most have the

self-assurance that come the year 2030, the poor man in the slums will

experience a lot of changes. Many youths who have been caught out in

the unemployment situation also believe that by following this vision,

they will be absorbed by the many industries that will spring up when

the vision is realized.

Nevertheless,

there has been great debate among skeptics in Africa as to whether upgrading

developing nations in sub-Saharan Africa will actually end crime related

to poverty that has been on the rise lately, the most notorious of which

have been related to irrational belief in witchcraft and superstition

that causes many to seek shortcuts in getting wealth. Indeed, the recent

activities in major parts of Africa have proved that if the majority

of African societies do not become empowered to change their mindset

about these beliefs, then many are going to engage in inhumane activities

that are bound to cause a human rights crisis in most states of Africa.

By 2030, the situation might be worse or even beyond control.

With

the modern capitalist societies adopted by most African nations, competition

has been fierce in most developing nations in Africa. The majority of

the people in the competition is at a disadvantage and has therefore

been thrown out, creating an ever-widening gap between the rich and

the poor. The desperate poor have looked for ways of surviving in the

competition and have resorted to looking for shortcuts. Secret cults

demanding human blood and witch doctors looking for human body parts

have in the past been the best shortcut for the poor people because

they promise to provide a good amount of money for a single transaction.

Graduating a third-world republic to a middle-income country will stiffen

this competition, and the irrational will most likely resort to the

witch doctors rather than seek different means of winning it.

Of

course, the past incidents in Kenya have brought out exactly how the

low-class people are trying to make wealth using such shortcuts. First,

the public was shocked on September 13, 2010, when two mortuary attendants

who had attempted to sell body parts were arrested by the police. The

two were found with a green polythene paper bag containing male genitals,

which they attempted to sell for 50,000 Kenya shillings (700 U.S. dollars).

It is a fact that with the possibility of getting such money for a single

transaction, the poor man living in the slums or other underdeveloped

estates will continue risking engaging in the body-part market even

if it means killing the neighbor next door.

The

public was again driven into a panic on September 15, 2010, when family

of a corpse that was to be buried found that the body was missing its

genitals. This news caused dozens of citizens to rush to various mortuaries

to find out whether their dead relatives had their genitals or whether

they had been chopped off for the dirty business that has been on the

rise lately. The above incidents left most Kenyans who had buried their

relatives earlier doubting whether they had buried their loved one with

their genitals intact.

Most

investigations revealed that the genitals were being sold to witch doctors

for a generous sum and then used to make love portions and charms to

sell to the many Africans who have problems with their love lives and

marriages. The parts were also used to make charms for business people

to beat their business rivals.

These

cases bring to mind the killings of taxi drivers that hit the country

in August 2009. In that month alone about thirteen taxi drivers were

killed and then found without their tongues, limbs, and genitals. These

taxi drivers were approached by people who pretended to be customers

late in the night, and at dawn their bodies were found mutilated and

dumped by the roadside.

To

continue, on August 17, 2010, the headlines of most East African media

and daily publications were full of the story of a Kenyan man who was

caught trying to sell an albino man in Tanzania. The man was arrested

when the police pretended to be the potential buyer of the albino. The

police had to pay the sum of 250, 000 U.S. dollars for the albino. The

Kenyan man had told the albino man that he had secured him a job. Not

knowing that he was a commodity that was to be sold for a great sum,

the albino agreed. This is just one of many stories about the albino

trade in East Africa. It started with fishermen who believed that albino

hairs could bring them a large harvest of fish. They placed the hairs

on the net and believed they worked. Then slowly the witch doctors took

advantage of this belief and made business men believe that planting

albino parts in their business would make their business successful.

As a result, albino body parts were in demand that led to the deaths

of over fifty albinos.

It

is a fact that superstitious beliefs have still remained a disease in

most parts of Africa even up to this century of enlightenment. The ideas

that were invented by the primitive minds of the old societies have

become a meme that has proved tough to delete from the minds of most

Africans. These memes have even flourished among those with formal educations.

This is because you will find most educated scholars in Africa still

believing in the power of Juju, witchcraft, and other supernatural entities.

Adding

to this debate, most ignorant African conservatives have always maintained

that African beliefs like the belief in witchcraft, witches, witch doctors,

the power of the ancestors, and other cultish beliefs should not be

interfered with because they bring about African authenticity. These

misled individuals have maintained that deleting superstitious beliefs

from the African mindset will be detrimental to African literature because

African man is associated with his unique beliefs, like the belief in

witchcraft.

When

you listen to these people argue, it’s hard to tell whether they are

aware of the danger of encouraging the public belief in witchcraft and

other irrational beliefs. Do these people know that there are children

who are poisoned, hacked to death, or forced to roam the streets in

some parts of Nigeria? Have they watched the documentary Saving

Africa’s Witch Children? Are these people aware that in Kisii

and Malindi, Kenya, old women and men are at risk of being lynched simply

because people believe that they have wicked powers that they use to

cause harm? Do these people see the cases in Malawi where women are

stoned to death because the societies have chosen to believe in witchcraft

powers?

Even

if Vision 2030 is successful in Kenya, these irrational beliefs will

still persist if they are not addressed. With the emergence of small

urban centers, competition will be high; many Africans will still find

themselves at a disadvantage. Many will look for ways of making it big

and seek the advice of witch doctors, who have maintained that they

can use certain human parts to make people succeed in their business

endeavors. These poor individuals will do anything they are told by

the witch doctors, and the killings for humans for body parts will be

on the rise.

With

the rise of urbanization that the success of Vision 2030 will bring,

most sub-Saharan African societies will still experience many more killings

if we don’t teach them about the dangers of superstitious thinking.

The challenges of urbanization in most developing countries of Africa

have always included a rise of crime. This is because so many people

migrate from the rural areas to look for employment. With high unemployment

rates, most end up in the slums, and out of desperation they allow their

minds to be swayed by gangs, cults, and other bodies that promise good

money for their illegal endeavors. Young people are especially at risk

for this kind of misuse.

This

gives humanists and rational people a big task ahead. Can skeptics and

rational people in Africa also adopt a Vision 2030 plan that society

will be free from irrational beliefs? Can they foresee a 2030 where

children in Nigeria will not have a bleak death due to witchcraft accusation

to look forward? Can they adopt a vision where no women will be stoned

in Malawi or old men and women will be lynched because of a belief in

witchcraft? Can we have an end to killing of people for their body parts

and teach societies how to effectively use their creativities for survival

instead of appealing to irrationality?

Anti-Superstitious Thinking Campaign was held at CFI/Kenya on September 25, 2010.

This is an achievable vision,

and the Center for Inquiry/Kenya has engaged with institutions of higher

learning, secondary and primary schools, youth organizations, and the

rural communities in their fight against superstitious beliefs since

the launch of their Anti-Superstitious Thinking Campaign in May 2009.

Moses Alusala of the Kenya Humanist Association presents a paper on superstition at CFI/ Kenya.

In most of our engagement with

youths, we have realized that they are flexible and have not yet been

deeply indoctrinated by the superstitious beliefs of the older members

of society. With good literature materials and education, they are the

best people to engage in the Anti-Superstitious Thinking Campaign, for

they will be the active people in the year 2030.

The

Center for Inquiry/Kenya has scheduled a lot of ongoing campaigning

at institutions of higher learning beginning November 5, 2010, at the

University of Nairobi, then continuing on to Moi University in Eldoret.

Then it will focus on local organizations in the spotlight areas in

November and December.

Some participants of the Anti-Superstitious Thinking Campaign held at CFI/Kenya.

We started the campaign and

will continue the fight against irrational beliefs. We believe that

by engaging the campus groups, local groups, and secondary and primary

school groups, we shall achieve our Vision 2030 of a society that will

be free from irrational belief. It is encouraging that in Malawi, George

Thindwa, a humanist who is involved with the Center for Inquiry, has

taken on the fight deep has been featured in many international news

stories. Mr. Thindwa is advocating for the release of about fifty women

who have been arrested for witchcraft in the past. More of their story

can be read at http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/malawi-group-wants-witches-released-20101009-16cgg.html .

More

and more humanists in Africa are joining the fight, and if we continue

with that vigor, then more and more people will continue to be liberated

from the slavery of dogma and superstitious beliefs that have degraded

development in Africa and have been the major cause of human rights

crises.

Together we shall achieve the

vision!

Dr. Adeleke Oluseyi Ogulana, a humanist from Nigeria, visited the Center for Inquiry/Kenya to have a look at how humanism is organized at the Center. He discussed how irrationality is becoming a threat to the survival of the younger generation in Nigeria. Pictured from left: George Ongere, Dr. Adeleke, Boaz Adhengo of Humanist and Ethical Union of Kenya, and Moses Alusala of the Kenya Humanist Association.