Festus Hamalwa
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Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Chief Inspector Christina van Dunem DaFonsech said 27 people have committed suicide last year after they have been accused of witchcraft.<\/p>\n She said this during a police meeting, with various traditional healers, Pentecostal churches and the village headmen on Friday at Outapi in the Omusati region.<\/p>\n She warned that based on the Witchcraft Suppression Proclamation, Act 27 of 1933, the punishment against witchcraft accusers is a five-year imprisoned and or a fine.<\/p>\n \u201cLet us refrain from being fake prophets and traditional healers. I am not saying that we should not have traditional healers in the villages because traditional healers are part of our culture, but we should not mislead people,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n The community policing officer said some traditional healers and charismatic church pastors who are operating as Pentecostal churches are enriching themselves by taking advantage of vulnerable members of society, by crafting witchcraft accusations against each other.<\/p>\n \u201cWe no longer have trustworthy traditional doctors. The nation is being misled and families are separated,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She stressed that many people have lost their lives after being accused of witchcraft.<\/p>\n \u201cStop mentioning people\u2019s names and labelling them witches if you are not sure. Stop guessing and giving false information to the people,\u201d she urged.<\/p>\n DaFonsech stressed that neighbours, workmates and family members do not have peace with each other anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine accusing a person by mentioning his or her name as the witch in her workplace. Stop destroying people\u2019s peace at workplaces,\u201d she lamented.<\/p>\n In addition, DaFonsech has urged traditional healers and pastors to refrain from preparing or supplying any poisonous drinks, which is dangerous to people.<\/p>\n She also urged pastors to stop having sexual relationships with school learners or sleeping with people\u2019s wives.<\/p>\n \u201cChurches should stop accommodating people for too long. Churches should stop telling sick people to stop taking their medication.\u201d<\/p>\n She also urged the headmen to ensure that traditional healers in their villages are registered.<\/p>\n \u201cHeadmen should know the number of traditional healers in their villages and what they treat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Festus Hamalwa Africa-Press – Namibia. Chief Inspector Christina van Dunem DaFonsech said 27 people have committed suicide last year after they have been accused of witchcraft. She said this during a police meeting, with various traditional healers, Pentecostal churches and the village headmen on Friday at Outapi in the Omusati region. She warned that based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":49074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-49076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\n