When Josephat Ouma died of AIDS disease in June this
year (2014), there were some mixed feelings among some mourners most of whom
his own kinsmen who turned up during his burial in Buganjo village, Rorya
district in Mara region. The mourners had a belief that his death was not
natural and that it might have been caused by something else and not AIDS
disease from which most people knew. Such feelings also dominated the minds of
his closer friends who associated his death with a curse believed to have
overcome him as a result of breaching tribal laws and or other traditional
customs. According to their beliefs, once the elders of the clan are angered as
a result of the breach of any traditional laws and customs, normally are
compelled to retaliate with such a severe punishment. The curse popularly known
as ‘Chiraa’ is a name derived from
Luo vernacular language used by ancient tribal elders to describe a situation under
which a person suffers and his body becomes emaciated with all signs more or
less like a person who suffers from a deadly AIDS disease before he dies. The
tale about Ouma’s death and others who have ever suffered the same wrath like
him and later died unexpectedly remains a subject of debate up to now, despite most
people keeps on maintaining such barbaric beliefs as true facts though none of
them has yet proved beyond any reasonable doubts. This is a superstitious belief
that is being portrayed by some people in Buganjo village, Rorya district in
Mara region whose residents most of whom belongs to Luo ethnic community that
forms the largest population group of the people in the district’. The tale
about ‘Chiraa’ as it is believed among the ancient Luo community members is used
to describe the situation which overcome people as a punishment administered by
the elders of clans to offenders after having violated rules and traditional
customs required to be observed in a community. Such people are condemned by
elders of the clan after having chosen their own ways which were forbidden and
considered abominable while performing rituals which later on angered traditional
elders of the land whose role was to impose such rules and ensure are strictly
observed. The elders of the clan once annoyed with any action or deeds
performed against their wishes intentionally, they become annoyed and impose a severe
punishment to offenders by administering local herbs which have magical powers
in it that harm the offenders who become emaciated and ultimately they die. There
are so many traditional customs and rituals which were already initiated by
ancestors in Luo community to be adhered by the incoming generations correctly without
going astray. Among them includes
failure to perform the rites of the deceased forefathers. Others includes
disrespect shown to elders of families, failure to pay sacrifices to the
Goddess of the land especially when planting seasons approaches and many others
which are related with traditional rituals and beliefs as a key factor to
maintain the tradition. Recent
investigations gathered by this writer who happened to be present at the ceremonial
burial of Josephat Ouma, who suffered HIV pandemic disease in Buganjo village,
Rorya district in Mara region can reveal
that, most elderly people in the area still embraces such ancient tribal beliefs.
The tales of such beliefs which ironically do not bear truth in it, have no sufficient
evidences to prove beyond any reasonable doubts compared to scientific research
knowledge activities currently being undertaken whose results are proved by
facts. Zedekia Atito, who is among the oldest
men in the village said that, in the past his forefathers used to precaution
him when he was still young not to go against any traditional customs otherwise
he would be punished by the elders accordingly.
The punishment he described in this case was to overcome ‘Chiraa’. Kamlus
Opiyo another old man in the village insisted the same and further narrated
that, in the past it was quite impossible to hear someone breaking the
traditional customs and other rituals for fear of being punished and added that
offenders were even isolated from the rest of community members. He told this
reporter in an exclusive interview when contacted that, whoever was found not
to strictly adhere to traditional customs had to face such calamities and when
they die no one dared to attend their burials except few selected relatives.
Opiyo whose age is estimated to be in his early nineties recalled such tales
which were being told by his grandfather when he was still very young. However
he clarified that those cursed and later died were buried far a distance from
their homes just like people who were suffering from leprosy disease. Confirming
the existence of such a belief Benedict Ogola the oldest surviving old man in
the village estimated to be aged between 90 and 95 years, castigated the
existence and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS pandemic disease among the community
members. Ogola who the present younger generation calls him Jaduo’ng, a word of
respect for elderly men as expressed in Luo vernacular language in honor of his
old age, said that Chiraa is a curse
which overcome members of Luo community who tend to breach traditional customs.
He further noted that, those believed to have been cursed their bodies became
so emaciated and eventually were left to die unattended without any help, and
when they die only few people were selected by elders of the clan to accomplish
their burials. He added such people were not given proper burial according to
tradition because of the curse which fell upon them due to mistakes they had
committed deliberately against the traditional customs that had angered elders
of a concerned clan,
The Three old men met
with this writer during a ceremonial occasion organized by Ouma’s relatives
that targeted the performance of the second burial rites in remembrance of
their deceased brother as part of the traditional customs of the Luo tribe. It
is in these occasions when members of the families gathers to perform various
rituals under strict observation according to the tribal rules bearing in mind
the fact that, the dead ones had left behind children and wives who as per
Luo’s traditional customs have to be engaged as part of tradituion. The real
significance of such performance to honour the deceased is to cleanse bad
misfortunes that might follow the deceased children, and for that matter
rituals have to be performed as part of traditional rule. Other diseases which
caught the attention of the community members and regarded as a curse to
whoever was affected in a community included the tuberculosis disease as well
as leprosy. From many ancient African traditional tales, leprosy disease was
regarded as a curse to people who committed great mistakes that had angered the
elders of the clan for the disease had neither cure nor treatment. In view of this, the affected people when they
die were not given proper burial as deserved like others who died of normal
diseases, and sometimes their bodies were thrown in forests and left there only
to be devoured by wild animals. Since the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS disease in
the country over 30 years ago, such beliefs have become predominant in various entire
community ethnic groups and have made people to strongly believe that, there is
little existence of the disease which has become a threat in the global
community. The belief in Chiraa as
related to people who are infected with HIV/AIDS disease has a positive
distortion to the actual meaning of the situation under which an AIDS sufferer
might show in a normal circumstances although the basic signs known for the
victims are the same. In this case, Ouma’s death just like others whose deaths were
caused due to HIV/AIDS infections should not have been related with a belief in
Chiraa situation because after all he
had all medical documentations and prescriptions that indicated he was a HIV
positive, said a close relative. Clarifying over the matter Dr. Michael Samson
of a private hospital in Tarime district said in an exclusive interview that, a
mere speculation about such death that
is related to superstitious beliefs should not be taken as true thing to make people believe for whatever has not
been proved scientifically by doctors or researchers. What makes people believe
that Ouma was cursed and that his death is not natural death caused by HIV viruses,
is when his two wives Elizabeth Akinyi and Monica Adhiambo are still alive and
their bodies looks very healthy. But
according to Dr. Samson when one couple becomes thin and later on dies, it is
not necessarily that the other should follow immediately. It depends on the
strength of one’s CD4 cells in the body. Commenting over the issue, the chairperson
of the National Council for People Living with HIV/AIDS pandemic disease
(NACOPHA), Vitalis Makayula, said that, among the challenges faced by his
council in their daily operation is where there are some people whom relates
the disease with superstition. He said in an exclusive interview in his office
last week in Dar es Salaam that, there is a misconception among members of the tribal
community who distorts the prevalence of the HIV pandemic saying that those
infected have been bewitched. Such beliefs are still inciting the real battle
Instead, the persistent stigma and discrimination attitudes shown to the
sufferers in these areas increase the impact of the epidemic in families and
communities at large. He also noted that, there are even some religious leaders
in some parts in the country who undertake the scourge as part of business
activities by believing the affected persons to have been bewitched an aspect
which he says is wrong. In view of this, however, he is appealing to members of
the communities in Tanzania that, they should develop a habit of going for
voluntary test in order to establish their status instead of being deceived and
lose their monies to witch doctors who have commercialized the disease pandemic
for their benefits. In Tanzania here he said, one important observation is that
most of these reported cases involve people living in urban areas who can at
least afford to access hospital treatment. People in rural areas have a
disadvantage for this for reasons ranging from ignorance where there is still a
belief that those suffering from HIV related cases have been bewitched. But on
the other way round, people fear to go for a voluntary testing because once
they knew that they were infected they would be stigmatized. However, he has
raised a concern for the law to penalize those who are fond of stigmatizing the
infected individuals in the country noting that a state of affair has instilled
fear to undergo tests to determine their health status. Beyond legal redress,
there are many other ways of tackling HIV/AIDS related stigma and
discrimination in Tanzania and Africa as a whole. Public information campaigns
for example have an important key role to pay in helping people understand the
unfairness and injustice of stigmatization and discrimination. The community
engagement campaigns can change individual and social attitudes, participatory
education can help individuals place themselves to respect those who suffer
discrimination and thereby appreciate the injustices of discriminatory actions.
Through grassroots activism, advocacy and involvement in development and
implementation policy actions of people living with HIV virus can be a radical
force for change, breaking down the barriers to the full realization of human
rights, Makayula noted.
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