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The Tanzanian Albino Society has called on President John Magufuli to "personally intervene and denounce this bestial act and provide financial support for programs to eliminate this barbarity against albinos".
Flag of Tanzania. Image: provided
NAIROBI – Tanzanians with albinism said Sunday that they were living in fear after the remains of a person with albinism were exhumed in what they qualified of act "bestial" and "barbarian".
The Tanzanian Albino Society has called on President John Magufuli to "personally intervene and denounce this bestial act and provide financial support for programs to eliminate this barbarity against albinos".
In Tanzania and other countries of sub-Saharan Africa, members of the body of albinism are sought after for their witchcraft practices, as they are said to improve luck and wealth.
The remains of Aman Anywelwisye Kalyembe, buried in 2015 in the Rungwe district, in the Mbeya region in the south of the country, were exhumed and displaced by strangers in the night of April 23 to 24, announced the society.
The incident "fueled fear among albinos and their families," he said in a statement.
He attributed these actions to "superstitious beliefs at the time we are preparing the (general) 2020 elections".
Human rights activists in Tanzania say that the number of attacks against albinos is dropping sharply, but that their graves are increasingly desecrated and their remains are exhumed.
A number of such incidents have been reported in different parts of the country since 2016.
Albinism is a genetic disease that causes little or no production of the melanin pigment, which determines the color of the skin, hair and eyes.
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