When the election comes, this is when us witchdoctors get a lot of respect, as all these politicians come running to us.Īlthough he said he kills three to four cats a month, he claims he could power his way through as many cats as life throws at him – unless it’s the holy month of Ramadan, when he abstains. Cats are considered bad luck in Tanzania, but some believe that they can bestow power if decapitated and their blood is drunk. “People gave me this name, as I am a friend of cats,” he said. Manyaunyau – the sound cats are said to make when they meow – changed his name from Jongo Salum eight years ago, when he gave up gutting fish and driving a bus, and took over “doctoring” using cats from his grandfather. In 2010, the US-based Pew Research Center found that 93 percent of Tanzanians believe in witchcraft, the highest rate in Africa. “He’s here in a big position and a member of parliament, but I can’t say his name,” said Manyaunyau, claiming doctor-patient privilege as East Africa’s “perfect cure champion”, in the words of his personal website, which features grisly before-and-after kitten photos. According to him, the cat-killing is the work of “spiritual powers” that attack him and render him unconscious.īut as he ruminated on the matter from a house gifted to him by a re-elected Tanzanian minister who believes witchcraft saved his seat, he said he knows that his bloody spells really pay off. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – “Doctor” Manyaunyau doesn’t know how he decides which cats’ heads he chews off, and which he chops off.
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