Enchanted Worldviews and Violence Against Persons with Albinism in Sub-Saharan Africa

Across Africa, news reports and scholarly discussions have revealed the constant attacks and violence perpetrated against persons with albinism. These reports suggest that albinos continue to remain targets of human sacrifice, which is supported by the view that their bodies or human parts possess rare qualities that make them potent for ritual sacrifices for the purpose of winning political office or power and/or boosting business, especially in the area of mining. Albino bodies are also believed to be powerful in the making of medicines. In addition, albinos continue to remain a disinherited group that faces social injustice in areas such as education, employment, health, marriage, and kinship. In this chapter, I discuss, with examples from Tanzania and Ghana, the plight of albinos and the violence and injustices perpetrated against them. I argue that the continuous and subjective forms of violence against such groups of people are a result of enchanted worldviews and greed for power and prosperity in a context in which many people are disenchanted with socio-economic realities.