Politicians in Uganda are turning to witch doctors to get a competitive advantage over their opponents. This spiritual political warfare is part of a wider struggle of faith in the majority Christian country.
Ugandan politician described what happened at an event where he met with a political rival.
Wilson Watira offered his hand when he met his political rival at a funeral, gesturing for a proper handshake. The man didn’t want contact, instead folding a piece of paper that he aimed at Watira.
“He looked at me and picked that piece of paper of the program. He folded it and greeted me,” Watira said. “He’s just afraid of me simply because I am not afraid of him.”
Watira, who seeks a seat in Uganda’s Parliament, remembered the recent event as a vivid example of the rampant fear of witchcraft as politicians seeking office try to outmaneuver each other in this east African country.
In public, political contests often entail spectacles where rivals rent cars to mount raucous processions in the streets, offering cash and other inducements to voters. Behind the scenes, the struggle for victory can be intensely spiritual, with faith figuring in incidents ranging from ritual sacrifice to visits with traditional healers, according to Watira and others who spoke to The Associated Press.
Watira, a leader of a group uniting Uganda’s Bamasaba people, said the incumbent legislator who refused to shake his hand may have worried that would somehow give Watira the upper hand or provoke misfortune. Watira said he wasn’t surprised by the man’s behavior.
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