Musaazi NAMITI | The Founder’s Mind Space
NBS TVās presenter, Mildred Tuhaise, has given many people on social media something to talk about: witchcraft at work.
She claimed in an interview with a content creator that she once suffered ettalo, brought on by witchcraft, which was the handiwork of a workmate.
In a deeply superstitious country like Uganda, where even highly educated people take witchcraft seriously, it is all too easy to see why people are paying attention to her comments and sharing her video clip with alacrity.
Yet if you analyse what she said dispassionately, you quickly realise her comments are attracting attention for the wrong reasons.
Let me begin with what she called ettalo, or cellulitis. It is a an infection caused not by witchcraft but by bacteria. This is incontrovertibly true. And you do not have to be a scientist, a medical doctor, to believe it or to write about it, as I have done.
You can search anywhereāthink websites of institutions with credible and regularly updated data, such as the World Health Organisation, the Centers for Disease Control, the NHS, Mayo Clinicāand you will not find evidence that ettalo is caused by witchcraft.
This video talks about the same subject and reinforces my argument.
When I was young, I heard a lot about ettalo. I remember several people in one village where I lived whose lives were stolen by this infection.
Then, as now, many people believed ettalo was witchcraft at work. It was hard to convince them that organisms trying to survive, and invisible to the naked eye, were causing the infection.
If the people who died were living in developed countries, where science and medical advances are increasingly banishing superstition and prolonging lives, they would get the better of ettalo.
It has been more than 40 years since I saw victims of ettalo with my own eyes. The passage of time has seen antibiotics, which treat ettalo, becoming widely available, especially in urban areas, but superstition does not seem to be going anywhere.
Ms Tuhaise strongly believes what she said. Those sharing her video clip believe her story. But for someone working in journalism, Ms Tuhaiseās claim reveals a shocking inability to question widely held beliefs that are demonstrably false.
Six reasons you should trust what you read on this websiteāand share it with confidence
1. Led by experience that travels well
Our founder and editorial director, Musaazi NAMITI, brings more than two decades of serious newsroom experience, including eight years as an editor at Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar, and consulting for the African Development Bank, UN agencies and Globe Media Asia in Cambodia. His global exposure anchors OJ-UGANDA.COM in professional rigour and fairnessāstandards that too often slip in Ugandaās crowded media space.
2. We fact-check with scientific precision
Verification is NOT a box we tick; it is how we bring journalism to life. We confirm spellings, dates, figures, placesāevery detail that shapes a story. If a fact looks shaky, we pause and probe. Emotion does not lead us; evidence does.
3. We are a legal entity and are fully registered
OJ-UGANDA.COM is a company registered with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau. Our registration number is: 80034266163714
4. Radical transparency in how we work
We do not hide behind mystery. We show readers how information is gathered, verified and edited. You will always understand why we stand by a storyābecause we will let you in on the process.
5. Accountability you can see
When we err, we do not sweep it under the carpet/rug. Our corrections policy ensures every error is corrected immediately, with a clear note explaining what went wrong and what has been fixed. No quiet deletions. No half-truths.
6. Fair treatment for contributors
If you write for us, your ideas remain yours. We refine, not usurp. We share every edited version before publication, and we publish only work that is fact-based and mutually agreed upon. Your voice stays authenticāand honest.
š“We run a clean, professional news site that prioritises editorial quality and draws readers’ attention to what matters.
She should know that something is true not because many people believe it, but because it is supported by evidence.
People who insist witchcraft is real are always pressed for irrefutable evidence. The person Ms Tuhaise claims engineered her ttalo would be making millions of shillings given the fact that many Ugandans want to punish people who have wronged them. They would gladly pay to try to weaponise ettalo.
But if you visit, for example, a witch doctor and tell them you need ettalo to eliminate, say, 10 people, you will need a miracle to see real results. It will not work. The witch doctor must be able to gather the very bacteria causing ettalo and administer them to people you are targeting. It is hard to see how this can be done.
Ugandans are quick to defend witchcraft whenever they are challenged about its efficacy. But their actions often suggest they do not really understand what they are talking about. A witch doctor loses something to a thief and runs to the police for help instead of dealing with the thief himself.
Which brings me to the story of a man who was selling concoctions to unsuspecting people to help them catch thieves. He lived in a muzigo in a slum and was a victim of thieves himself.
Each time he left his flip-flops at the entrance of his muzigo, they would be stolen. Then one day his neighbours overheard him saying: āNaye bannange kendikwata ku mubbi anzibira sapatu alikinnyonnyoka. (If I ever catch the thief stealing my flip-flops, they will be in trouble.)ā
Witchcraft peddlers use padlocks in their homes, and none leaves a room with valuables unlocked unless they are certain chances of theft are zero.
If this teaches us anything, it is that witchcraft works only in theory.
CLICK ON THE ARROW TO READ MORE FROM MUSAAZI NAMITI
š“ Musaazi Namiti is the Founder and Editorial Director of OJ-UGANDA. He previously led the Africa Desk at Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar, worked for Globe Media Asia in Cambodia and writes a widely read column for Ugandaās Sunday Monitor. His work has been quoted by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Jeune Afrique, The Africa Reportānot for playing it safe, but for saying what others will not.