Reflections | African witch doctor arrests, Hong Kong’s ‘villain hitters’ and a Chinese dynasty’s demise
An alleged attempt to bewitch a president is a reminder of a plotter’s bogus claim about witchcraft being used against a Chinese emperor
Two “witch doctors” were recently arrested in Zambia for attempting to bewitch the African nation’s president, Hakainde Hichilema. They have been charged under Zambia’s Witchcraft Act with possession of charms, professing knowledge of witchcraft and cruelty to wild animals.
Also implicated were individuals associated with the president’s political rival, suggesting that the witchcraft accusation was politically motivated.
Anthropologists and historians have long argued that power or money, or both, are often the primary motivations for the persecution of “witches”. For the accusations to stick, however, enough people in that society must believe in – and more importantly, be fearful of – witchcraft.
This belief in, and fear of, malevolent sorcery is both ancient and universal. Close to home, many people in Hong Kong still pay women with certain expertise under the Canal Road flyover in Causeway Bay to rain curses on their enemies with the help of a wooden clog.
