A preacher in the northern Uganda district of Lira has confessed to 70 ritual killings, including his son.
Polino Angela, 50, formerly a witch-doctor based in Lira, said he was initiated into ritual murders in Kenya at a ceremony in which a 13-year-old boy was killed and his blood sprinkled on his (Angelas) body. After this ritual, Angela was ordered by the healers to sacrifice his 10-year old boy, whom he killed.
I deceived my wife and made sure that everyone else had gone away and I was with my child alone. Once he was placed down on the ground, I used a big knife and brought it down like a guillotine, Angela told BBC journalists who were recently in Uganda to do a documentary on child sacrifice. The documentary was aired last Thursday.
Although he didnt highlight where most of his 70 victims were got from, he said he has since abandoned the practice which majorly targeted vulnerable children.
I want to be very open and sincere for the first time that there is nothing good about witchcraft. I practised as a witch doctor for 22 years, after I was immersed in blood. This, I was told, could help me speak many languages with the clients. I was instructed that on reaching home, I should pick my child, place him along the door way and on passing him, kill him, he said.
After this incident, I lost mercy for any ones child, I never felt sorrow at any one moment for the sacrifice I made, he added. Polino says he has since abandoned witchcraft and taken to serving God.
He works as a coordinator, Ex-Witch doctors Foundatation, an NGO started by a Catholic priest in Lira District to persuade witchdoctors to abandon the evil practice. He says that up to 2,800 witch doctors have since abandoned the practice in Northern Uganda and other parts of the country.
When asked whether he was afraid the information could be used to prosecute him, he said: I have been to all the churches and they know me as a warrior in the drive to end witchcraft that involves human sacrifice, so I think that alone should indemnify me and have me exonerated.
Angelas confession comes amidst growing public concern over rising numbers of children killed in ritual murders.
A 2009 report by Facilitation for Peace and Development (FAPAD), a Lira-based NGO, revealed that 40 children have either gone missing or have been killed in Lango and Acholi sub-regions.
The report says most of the cases of the missing children were reported in hospitals, nursery schools and other childcare centres in Gulu and Lira districts.
Polino Angela, 50, formerly a witch-doctor based in Lira, said he was initiated into ritual murders in Kenya at a ceremony in which a 13-year-old boy was killed and his blood sprinkled on his (Angelas) body. After this ritual, Angela was ordered by the healers to sacrifice his 10-year old boy, whom he killed.
I deceived my wife and made sure that everyone else had gone away and I was with my child alone. Once he was placed down on the ground, I used a big knife and brought it down like a guillotine, Angela told BBC journalists who were recently in Uganda to do a documentary on child sacrifice. The documentary was aired last Thursday.
Although he didnt highlight where most of his 70 victims were got from, he said he has since abandoned the practice which majorly targeted vulnerable children.
I want to be very open and sincere for the first time that there is nothing good about witchcraft. I practised as a witch doctor for 22 years, after I was immersed in blood. This, I was told, could help me speak many languages with the clients. I was instructed that on reaching home, I should pick my child, place him along the door way and on passing him, kill him, he said.
After this incident, I lost mercy for any ones child, I never felt sorrow at any one moment for the sacrifice I made, he added. Polino says he has since abandoned witchcraft and taken to serving God.
He works as a coordinator, Ex-Witch doctors Foundatation, an NGO started by a Catholic priest in Lira District to persuade witchdoctors to abandon the evil practice. He says that up to 2,800 witch doctors have since abandoned the practice in Northern Uganda and other parts of the country.
When asked whether he was afraid the information could be used to prosecute him, he said: I have been to all the churches and they know me as a warrior in the drive to end witchcraft that involves human sacrifice, so I think that alone should indemnify me and have me exonerated.
Angelas confession comes amidst growing public concern over rising numbers of children killed in ritual murders.
A 2009 report by Facilitation for Peace and Development (FAPAD), a Lira-based NGO, revealed that 40 children have either gone missing or have been killed in Lango and Acholi sub-regions.
The report says most of the cases of the missing children were reported in hospitals, nursery schools and other childcare centres in Gulu and Lira districts.
