Attacks on people like me happen every time my country has an election

Fresh Trauma comes with all the election options in Tanzania through 42-year-old Mariam.

For many, fiesta-like songs, and campaign messages, signal an opportunity for people to make their voice heard. But for those with albinism, they bring fear.

Warning: This article contains graphic violence that some people may find disturbing

Mariam tells the BBC: “The first thing that comes to me is fear,” Mariam tells the BBC as people prepare to vote for the president and Parliament on Wednesday.

“I know that the killing of people with albino happened during the election period in Tanzania, when the beliefs of taming are strong. That’s why I don’t participate in campaigns … I’m very afraid.”

Albinosm, which affects an estimated 30,000 people in Tanzania, is a rare genetic condition that reduces melanin – the pigment that gives color to the skin, eyes and hair.

Superstitions have made those with a target situation. The false belief that albino organs bring wealth, luck, or political success has fueled attacks and killings across Tanzania.

Activists say such attacks intensify the run-up to elections as vie people gain political influence.

Mariam knows that this danger looks and feels like a person herself.

In 2008, one of the bloodiest years for people with Albinism in Tanzania as preparations for local elections were still going on, men stayed in his bed in Kagera, in the north-west border region.

“They came at night time and cut off my right hand [from above the elbow] he took it, and they cut off my left hand.

“The next day I was rushed to the meeting, determined, and the doctor who saw me said: ‘This person is already dead, take him home and I will bury him,” “.

Against the odds, Mariam survived; But she was five months pregnant and her unborn child did not.

This attack not only left him permanently disabled but forced him to abandon Kagera, one of the epicenters of killing people with albitis at the time.

Finally he returned to the peace associated with the Kilimanjaro region, where the albino rights group, under the same sun, built his house and trained him to use a bending machine. Now she makes sweaters.

For seventeen years, the sorrow did not end.

“Even now, sometimes I dream about that night,” said Mariam. “When I wake up, I touch my arms and remember they’re not there. It’s something I can’t drink.”

What happened to Miriam was one of many attacks on albino people and their organs.

Under the same sun says there have been 211 such incidents in Tanzania since 2008:

• 79 people were killed

• 100 people were separated but survived

• The three victims were not injured

• Two people were kidnapped and remain missing

• 27 graves are desecrated and body parts are looted.

In 2008 alone about 35 people with albino were killed, and many more people have been killed.

That killing was condemned by the whole world, prompting the collapse of the government. The President at the time, Jakaya Kikete, condemned the attack and called for tough action against the killers.

As a result, Tanzania was under investigation when it came to the killing of witches with Albinism and strict laws against discrimination.

There have been efforts to raise public awareness about the issue.

On a traffic road in the town of Shengema in the North-West, a memorial was built to remember the children, women and men with albinism who lost their lives or were injured in the attack.

The life-size metal statue shows a father carrying an albino child on his shoulders while a mother shields him from the sun.

Mariam’s name is engraved on the memorial.

So is Mamanuel Emmanuel, who was only five years old when he was killed in 2008.

Sitting in his home in Mwanza, his brother, Mashi Emmanuel, now, remembers that day. The pain still haunts him.

“I was eight years old, I saw my legs, hands and tongue being removed by the attackers. Since then, I have been afraid from time to time when we hear of attacks close to elections.”

Despite awareness campaigns, attacks continue.

One was recorded this year, in the northern village of Simu, in June. The victim was not injured but has now been moved to a safe house.

President Samia Suduaha Hassan recently warned of what he called, saying he has no place in the Tanzanian elections.

Sendi Ngga, the District Commissioner of one of the areas prone to attacks, said the government’s education campaigns have raised awareness, but rural areas remain vulnerable to superstitions.

He wants more involvement from everyone in the community to prevent attacks.

“We recently held a festival with traditional healers where we sat together and talked,” the commissioner told the BBC.

“As the election approaches, we also warned them that they can be good ambassadors to tell others to reject the actions and ensure that people with albino are protected.”

While campaign groups and survivors say more work still needs to be done by the government, some progress has been made.

Awareness drives, community programs, and school placement programs have helped reduce attacks in some areas.

Communities are beginning to understand that people with albinism are not cursed and that superstitions can have deadly consequences.

But last year’s killing of two-year-old Asimbe Novath, abducted from his home in Kagera district, was a reminder that the controversy has not gone away.

Witnesses said the friend was taken by force by two unknown men while he was playing with his mother.

Seventeen days later, Asimbe’s body parts were found in a bag, dumped under a bridge in the same district. His remains were later buried at his family home.

Nine suspects were charged with murder by apparent suicide and murder, but the case was never resolved.

For Mariam, the case brought back troubling memories.

“It brought me back to the night of my attack back in 2008. I know it hurts, and I know his mother will never forget it.”

His experience means that fear is part of his daily life. He avoids crowds and rarely leaves the indoor home.

As the three votes approach, Mariam says she will not be disappointed, she doubts what difference it will make in her life.

Instead, you will spend a quiet day at home on Kilimanjaro.

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