Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Migori Town.
Reports emerging from Kuria West district, which is located along the Kenyan-Tanzanian borders says that police are actively investigating a case of a man who vanished after making an abortive attempt to sell his two year old daughter with albinism to witchdoctors in neighboring country.
The news about the incident was revealed to newsmen by the district children’s officer John Lang’at. He said his office had received the report that the man who has since vanished in the thin air was contemplating to either kill or sell the two year old daughter he considers to be a “curse” to his family.
Kuria East district which is bordering Tanzania is within the County of Migori in what used to the defunct Nyanza Province.
“The man was trying to sell his child to a certain individual in the neighboring country. But we are not going to give him a chance,” Lang’at said while briefing newsmen.
At least 59 Albinos have reportedly been killed since 2007 in Tanzania. There are around 170,000 living Albinos in that country.
The Albino community in Tanzania had one of their own Hon Salim Khalitan Burway elected to Parliament on October 21,2010. Burway represented Lindi Urban constituency. But already he had expressed the fears that his life was in danger in a country, where Albino hunters kill victim and use blood and their body parts tissues with other concoctions which they believe have medicinal value.
The newly elected MP with albinism blood claimed that he had noticed some gang were tracking his movement ever since he won the election, and it could be that they are out for mischievous pourp9oses against him and sought for protection.
In August this year, police in the Northwester Tanzanian lakeside town of Mwanza had arrested a Kenyan who had rented a room in guest house in with a young fellow Kenyan albino whom he was attempting to sell.
Nathan Muwizi was arrested when he tried to sell Robinson Mkuwana 20 year old jobless school leaver for Kshs 22 million.
In the latest case, the children officer reported that the man’s wife a mother of three whom he constantly quarreled with over the baby since she was born was the one who had reported the matter to the authority two weeks ago prompting the officer to launch investigation to ensure that the child was not harmed.
Lang’at said the man had allegedly evicted the mother of three with the other two daughters for refusing to accept his plan to sell the two year old daughter for money.
“The man kicked his wife out of his homestead when she objected to her husband heinous plan to have the baby either killed or be sold alive to other people. The man had allegedly organized with the “potential buyer” who would travel to Kuria East district and pick up the young girlk.
The suspect father who has since went underground was reported to have made a tentative arrangement to travel with the little daughter to Tarime Town in Tanzania where it was not yet clear as to what he wanted to do with her there. This is what raised the mother’s suspicion.
Witchdoctors from Tanzania believe that body of people with albinism can cure several ailments. They are said to mix the body tissues with other concoction, which they believe have medicinal value.
Albino people have since become endangered member of the society all over East and part of Central African states of Rwanda and Burundi.
Ends
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