In August 1960 I was the junior of two District Officers in Kigoma District in
Western Tanganyika (Kigoma was at the end of the Central Railway and
had a small harbour on Lake Tanganyika). We were all drawing breath after
coping throughout July with hundreds of refugees fleeing across the Lake
from the Belgian Congo and also with the election, which established the
final stage of self government prior to Independence: the DC was therefore
taking well-earned leave during what looked like a quieter spell. It was not to
be!
My colleague, Michael Beardmore, was Acting DC and was contacted in
mid-August by the Father Superior of the local White Fathers Mission, who
reported that a seeker-out of witches was operating close to Kigoma (no
word of which had come to us from the local chiefs or headmen). Some of
his congregation had told him of their anxiety, as they were devout
Christians and did not believe in witchcraft, but feared for their safety from
the way that the supposed witch-finder was acting.
Belief in witchcraft in Tanganyika was traditional and the majority of Africans
believed that little untoward happened without a spell from a witch being
behind it (it is of course not so long ago that many in our country entertained
similar fears). The Government had enacted a Witchcraft Ordnance to deal
with overt criminal offences or disturbances which were a result of witchcraft
and with the right of a court to restrict or expel anyone involved with
witchcraft.
We soon discovered that the witch-finder had come up from Northern
Rhodesia and was known colloquially as Kamchape (in Swahili - one who
marks out people). He was accompanied by a few young assistants. His
procedure was to visit a village and, having put his assistants into trances,
to send them round the village with bottles in their hands, which contained a
liquid mixture of extracts of particular roots and barks. When the bottle
began to shake it was an indication that an item of witchcraft was near and if
it then shook violently a search was made in the hut so indicated. Items
included bottles of "poison", a bushbuck's horn, animal bones, or any other
unusual items between the top of the wall and the thatch. The owner of the
hut was then persuaded to come out and sit in the centre of the village gathering,
whilst Kamchape shaved away a part of the "witch's" hair above
the forehead and the "witch" had to drink the potion in the bottle and sit in
the sun till sunset. After that Kamchape pronounced them "cured".
Kamchape's assistants were warned by the Acting DC (Michael) that they
were not to enter anyone's house without permission, nor were people to be
molested in any way. One case was subsequently brought to court, but that
was all for a couple of weeks. Kamchape had until then restricted his
activities to two villages. He then applied to the Local Authority of Ujiji
(famed as the meeting place of Livingstone and Stanley) for their permission
to operate there. Ujiji was an old Arab slave-centre with a population of
15,000, the only township in the District apart from the much smaller
Kigoma, and partly as a result of its history was a mixture of Africans of
different tribes. It was also, not surprisingly, the most troublesome place in
the District. The partially-elected Local Authority readily agreed, but wrote to
the acting DC for his agreement to Kamchape's request. He replied that this
was granted only if it was understood that the law must be observed.
Elections at every level in Tanganyika were overwhelmingly won by the
Nationalist Party, TANU, and so Michael visited the Ujiji office of TANU to
ensure that their District Secretary would co-operate in the maintenance of
the law. He assured Michael that TANU in Ujiji would do so and that their
own askaris, and TANU as a whole, would do all in their power to prevent
the law being broken (1st September).
A week later two separate violent incidents occurred involving two women,
one an Asian/African and the other an Asian, both of whom were
pronounced to be witches and were dragged from their houses, thrown to
the ground, and had their clothes ripped before being made to go through
the de-witching process. The leaders of the Asian community in the District
visited Michael at his home after dark to report both incidents. The following
day Michael saw Kamchape and his assistants and tried to get their
agreement that those who rejected the belief in witchcraft should not be
molested - even if the assistants claimed to have found what they
considered to be articles of witchcraft on them or in their houses. This was
rejected by Kamchape and Co., as, they said, following such a request
would mean that witches could remain in business. And despite further
argument they could not be persuaded otherwise.
Michael and I then discussed what should be done, and we agreed that we
could not leave Kamchape to carry on as he was, now in open defiance of
the law, but we had insufficient police strength should there be a mob from
Ujiji marching on the District Office This had happened twice in previous
months, but the DC had skilfully defused the situation on each occasion.
This was, however, a totally different scenario.
Michael rang the Deputy Provincial Commissioner (the PC being in Dar es
Salaam at a meeting) and talked through the situation (on Friday 9th
September), asking for reinforcements to cope with any disturbances that might arise if Kamchape was removed. The DPC agreed to his arrest and
removal and to send a platoon of the Field Force from Provincial
Headquarters in Tabora by train (an over-night journey of 250 miles). The
situation in Ujiji was meanwhile becoming ever tenser and we expected
trouble, as the Field Force would not leave Tabora until the Saturday
evening and arrive around 6am on the Sunday morning. We assumed that
news of what was intended would leak out fairly quickly.
I can remember clearly sitting in Michael's car in the dawn light halfway to
Ujiji watching for any sign of a march assembling: to our relief nothing stirred
and there were no further reports of violence (the most sensitive potential
targets, apart from Asian and Arab shops, was a White Sisters Mission with
several European nuns).
After the Field Force assembled at Kigoma Station they moved to a strategic
position on the Ujiji road, ready to confront any mob which tried to gather.
Kamchape meanwhile had been arrested under the terms of the Witchcraft
Ordnance and was safely in Kigoma Jail. On the Monday morning
Kamchape was escorted to our small boat, the Kibisi, on Lake Tanganyika
under police escort and was deported on it from Tanganyika Territory to
Northern Rhodesia, from where he had originally come. No march came
from Ujiji and small protests in Kigoma were dispersed without difficulty by
the police.
The matter became a political one, however, as the local TANU office
appealed to the relevant (TANU) Minister in Dar es Salaam. We wondered
whether he would intervene and reverse the decision and so undermine the
Administration's authority and also be seen to be siding with witchcraft
against the law's edict. He, however, did not support the local TANU appeal
and so we at last relaxed and the Field Force were in due course sent back
to Tabora. We neither saw nor heard of Kamchape again.
News of the Administration's action quickly spread in the District and no
doubt beyond. It had been superbly and calmly handled by Michael.
Finally, I have the letter I wrote to my parents, describing, inter alia, the
Kamchape incident (which I note I refer to as a "minor crisis" - it didn't seem
so at the time!)
However, I was on safari a few weeks later in a riverside village a mile or
two from the Lake. The local chief reported that one of his court messengers
had been attacked by a large crocodile, which was a most unusual
occurrence, as they were supposed to have been largely shot out some
years previously. "You see, Bwana, this is what comes from expelling
Kamchape!"
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