As economic chaos sets in, Mugabe legalises witchcraft

[Guest Warwick Green]

News coming out of Zimbabwe has been surreal for quite some time, but from this month it could become even more so, as witchcraft and wizardry are legal again after a 107-year ban. But if President Robert Mugabe's new legislation is applied humanely then only good witches will find any solace in it, as the act prohibits the practice of witchcraft by people who use their supernatural powers to harm others.

The 1899 prohibition which made it illegal to accuse anyone of being a witch or a wizard was perhaps a wise colonial decree because to this day throughout sub-Saharan Africa people accused of being witches are killed unpleasantly in traditional ceremonies which bypass national laws.

Among the most recent recorded mass burnings of witches were those organised by Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, who killed scores of women and their children on public bonfires after tapping into deeply held tribal beliefs about witchcraft. In reality, the victims tended to be women who had refused Savimbi's sexual advances.

But with inflation now at 1200% and a loaf of bread costing more than one But with inflation now at 1200% and a loaf of bread costing more than one million Zimbabwean dollars, some agree that you need a bit of magic to keep body and soul together...

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