The four men accused of the brutal murder of an albino sit in court before their arraignment in Shinyanga yesterday.
By Bernard James, Shinyanga
Four people appeared before the High Court in Shinyanga yesterday charged with the murder of a 54-year-old albino man.
It was the first time that suspects had appeared in court in connection with the wave of ritual killings targeting albinos that began two years ago.
The four men, including two village leaders, were charged with murdering mentally retarded Lyaku Willy albino by slitting his throat before chopping off his legs, which they took away, and dumping the body in a well. The offence allegedly took place last November at Nkindwabuye Village in Bariadi District.
But Mr Mboje Mawe, Mr Chenyenye Kishiwa, Mr Sayi Gamaya and Mr Sayi Mafizi denied the charge before Mr Justice Gadi Mjemas.
Scores of Shinyanga residents thronged the small High Court building here to have a glimpse of the accused. Many more followed the proceedings through the windows of the courtroom, which was filled to capacity.
Some people could not hold back tears as Senior State Attorney Edwin Kakolapi gave a graphic description of how the accused allegedly murdered and mutilated Mr Willy.
He said the accused started to implement their plan to kill the albino when Mr Gamaya, the third accused, told Mr Willy, who was his brother in law, that he would take him to hospital to have a lesion on his leg treated.
The accused further told the unsuspecting Willy that they would set out early in the morning, and would go to the hospital, which was several kilometres away, in the company of three men.
Mr Kakolapi told the hushed court that the journey started at around 1am, and while they were on their way, Mr Gamaya suggested to Mr Willy that his lesion should be washed before they reached the hospital.
The four men took Mr Willy to a nearby river and as he prepared to wade into the water, Mr Kishiwa, the second accused, shoved him in and held his head under the water, drowning him.
"The four men then pulled the lifeless body out of the water, and the first and second accused proceeded to cut off the head, while the third and fourth accused chopped off the limbs," Mr Kakolapi said, amid gasps from the audience.
The state attorney told the court that the victim’s headless body with the legs chopped off at the knees was found the next day stuffed in a gunny bag that had been dumped in a well.
Mr Mawe, the first accused, allegedly admitted during interrogation that he and his co-accused killed Mr Willy.
He told investigators that he had hidden the head and legs at his homestead, and volunteered to show police officers where the parts were buried.
Mr Mawe said they had intended to sell the body parts to a witchdoctor in Magu District, Mwanza Region.
The prosecution said it intended to call 14 witnesses, including an officer from the Chief Government Chemist’s office, to testify against the accused.
Documentary evidence to be tendered includes a post-mortem report and two sketch maps – one of the scene of the crime and another of the place where the body parts were hidden.
The list of exhibits includes a machete and knife that were allegedly used to dismember the victim, two legs and a head.
The prosecution also intends to produce a caution statement of the first and second accused, an extra-judicial statement of the first accused and two reports from the Chief Government Chemist.
Other attorneys representing the State in the case are Ms Veritas Mlay and Mr Renatus Mkude.
Mr Serapion Kahangwa, Mr Kabugusi Rymond, Mr Feran Kweka and Mr John Ng'wigulila are defending the accused.
It is estimated that at least 45 people with albinism have been brutally murdered in various regions since 2007.
The killings have been widely condemned by the international community.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to Tanzania in March that he was "deeply saddened" by the killings.
President Jakaya Kikwete ordered a crackdown on people behind the brutal murders when he attended a protest match organised by the Tanzania Albino Society (TAS) last year. The killings are most prevalent in mining and fishing communities in the Lake Zone regions, especially Mwanza, Shinyanga and Mara.
TAS says there are over 150,000 albinos in Tanzania, but only 8,000 are registered with the association.
Yesterday's trial opened a few weeks after 11 people appeared in court in Burundi, charged with the ritual killings of a dozen albinos.
The killings were carried out over a six-month period from September 2008 mainly in the Ruyigi province of the central African country.
Prosecutor Nicodemus Gahimbare told the court that eight of the suspects embarked on a killing and mutilation spree of albinos on September 8 with the murder of a little girl.
Three others are charged with attempted murder. They all pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, the 11 men, among them a government soldier, face life terms.
