Tanzanians to name albino killers

Angela Hager

In the past 15 months, 45 albinos have been killed in Tanzania. They are slaughtered so their body parts can be sold to witch doctors. These witch doctors promise to use the parts such as limbs, hair, skin, or genitals to make potions that will make people rich.

In an effort to curb or even stop the killings, authorities are issuing a "referendum" where citizens will be able to write down in secret people they suspect of killing albinos. Legal officials will collect the bits of paper with names on them and give them to police.

Edmund Sengondo Mvungi, a law lecturer at Dar es Salaam University, has his doubts about the process. He believes that when people are given the opportunity to accuse their neighbors of murder without consequences, that they will do so to settle scores. This could become a modern day witch hunt. For Mvungi, allowing the accusations to take place is simply a measure to keep the population complacent that something is being done.

According to the BBC, more than 200 people have been arrested in connection with the murders, but none have been convicted.

And the killings aren't limited to Tanzania. Last week a six year old albino boy in Burundi was reportedly dismembered in front of his parents, making him the eighth victim in that country.