FIFTY-TWO people have reportedly died in Tanzania while queuing for a “magical” potion being flogged by a local quack.
Mwasapile is pictured dispensing his 'miracle' potion
According to the BBC, the elderly charlatan – Rev Ambilikile “Babu” Mwasapile, 76 – is selling a concoction made from herbs and water for 500 Tanzanian shillings (five cents; 3p).
But so great have the crowds become near his northern Loliondo home that the pastor has asked people to stop flocking to his remote home until after Friday, April 1, to allow the numbers to subside.
A BBC reporter says the queues to see him stretch for 26km (16 miles).
When she visited Mr Mwasapile’s home, the BBC’s Caroline Karobia found 6,000 people waiting to see the retired Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) pastor.
They were waiting for days by the roadside and outside his home in Samunge village without shelter, clean water or toilets.
As word has spread in the past month of the pastor’s supposed ability to cure any ailments, some people have even been taken out of hospital by their relatives who believe they are more likely to be cured by Mwasapile.
Some of these have died before seeing him, while others are reported to have died after taking his concoction.
Health Minister Haji Hussein Mponda told the BBC that tests had shown that the mixture was safe for human consumption.
Tests were now being conducted to see if it has any medicinal properties.
Extra police have been deployed to the area to control the huge crowds, some of whom have travelled from neighbouring countries such as Kenya and even further afield.
Mr Mwasapile asked for the break following a meeting with local officials.
Belief in magic and the powers of traditional healers are widespread in Tanzania.
Some witchdoctors say that the body parts of people with albinism are effective when making magic charms, leading to the killing of dozens of albinos in recent years.
In 2009, the government outlawed all witchdoctors and traditional healers.
But on Monday, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said he would not take any action to stop Mr Mwasapile’s activities.
Hat tip: Marcus
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
March 29th, 2011 at 11:24 am
Idiots
March 29th, 2011 at 11:57 am
And the darwin award goes to….
March 29th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda getting a back-hander is he? Or does he get so many, that he believes that he is? Keep taking the pills…
March 29th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
At least his price is a lot lower than duchy herbals’s and their ilk.
March 29th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
This could be our future, should Charles Windsor become king.
March 29th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
@The Woggler: You took the letters right off my keyboard. Charles Windsor, lover of homeopathy and weirdness in general, will be checking this out. Great idea, with lucky rabbits’ paws (rub them on the sore patch), magic crystals, reflexology, Lourdes Holy Water (ignore the germs in it), faith healing and so much else the NHS could shut up shop. This could be the NHS equivalent to the Big Society.
March 29th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
While it’s fun to mock, don’t forget that these people are living in a country with virtually no health system at all so they will be desperate for any chance of a cure. Sad really, when you think how much money we waste on nonsense in western countries that could be put to better use in places like this.
As for chuck windsor, grrrr.
March 29th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Health Minister Haji Hussein Mponda told the BBC that tests had shown that the mixture was safe for human consumption. I think that 52 people dying after taking it shows that it is probably not. I also believe that the minister for health is a doctor. Terrifying.
Broga: I was always under the impression that you were a monarchist,
with a great deal of respect for the wonderful, and selfless, job that Charles does. The man’s views on alternative medicine were groundbreaking and highly informed, and to attack this wonderful man, who, as you know, cannot defend himself is unforgiveable. Try living in this country without the Windsors. God bless you Ma’am!!
Broga: I’m sorry, I could no longer keep a straight face whilst typing the previous paragraph. Charles is a fully paid up fuckwit and member of the NOability. The civil list is nothing but a glorified UB40.
March 29th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
@tony e. You really shouldn’t do this to me. The shock to the system is severe.
I think Graham Martin-Royle makes a fair point about the desperation of people who have nothing else but witch doctors and magic. If you are in terrible trouble then it is any port in a storm. Maybe they got some placebo effects? And when I hear about the coach trips organised regularly by the local Roman Catholic Church to take ill people to Lourdes then many in the UK act similarly.
March 29th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
@Broga, I could not resist it.
March 29th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Oh, the wonders of unrestrained capitalism and the free market.
Tony e: “I think that 52 people dying after taking it shows that it is probably not.”
Don’t forget they were already ill. There’s a big difference between ‘fit for consumption’ and ‘of use as a medicine’.
March 29th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
@Graham Martin-Royle
“While it’s fun to mock, don’t forget that these people are living in a country with virtually no health system at all so they will be desperate for any chance of a cure.”
Valid point obviously, but the article also mentions some people being removed from hospital to go and see the quack.
March 29th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
@Pete H. Doctors in the UK – my wife is one – know of patients who will delay clinical treatment while seeking a cure via homeopathy, faith healers, witch doctors (e.g. in London), weird sects or refuse a blood transfusion if a Jehova’s Witness. Often successful treatment is possible if action is taken in time but becomes so much more difficult, if not impossible, because of delay. The worst tragedy is when this kind of thinking is imposed on their children who are truly victims.
March 29th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
@ Broga,
Yep, not many things anger me more than parents withholding medical treatment from their children with the expectation/hope that god will sort it out. Child abuse, take the kids away from them, in my opinion.
I really didn’t know anything about homeopathy until I saw Dawkins’ Enemies of Reason documentary. I thought he summed it all up quite well.
March 29th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
There’s a sucker born every minute, and sometimes they die at the same speed.
March 29th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
the pastor has asked people to stop flocking to his remote home until after Friday, April 1, to allow the numbers to subside.
Certainly caught them out didn’t he.
March 29th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
chrsbol:
Damnit. April 1st is my birthday. (Don’t bother, I’ve heard ‘em all before…)
March 29th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Daz,
There’s a big difference between ‘fit for consumption’ and ‘of use as a medicine’. Correct.
However it is being promoted as a cure all, claiming to cure any condition, therefore, for example, in the uk, it would come under medicine and not supplement as would a vitamin. It’s the fact that the health minister has not stopped its use that surprises me and not stopped him giving it out despite the fatalities.
For the older gits here is a link to the last time someone gave out KoolAid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSRKWb4LO3w
March 29th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Tony:
Yeah, I commented in a hurry, between doing other stuff. Didn’t mean to seem like I was disagreeing with your major point.
One thing I wonder about: Does he believe it? Is it some sort of traditional folk-medicine, or just a scam he’s come up with. The first would be ignorance, the second tantamount to murder, seeing as people have died as a result of believing his claims over modern medicine.
March 29th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Daz,
I am going to sound beyond callous with my next statement, but, and I hope the fellow members on this site do not cry racist, this is echoed every day in Africa. I would even go as far as to say that the ministers involved would, in private, give a sigh of relief at 52 less mouths to feed. The politicians rely on ignorace and superstition to keep the masses in check.
March 30th, 2011 at 1:00 am
Tony:
Nah, it’s not racist. Bastards are bastards whatever the skin colour. And all politicians do that. The level of ignorance may change, but the principle’s the same.
March 30th, 2011 at 1:30 am
My father was diagnosed with colon cancer when he was 52. They hacked out his intestines and left him shitting in a bag he wore on his belt. The last time I saw him alive, he was on his way to Tijuana, Mexico to receive laetril treatment. So, maybe tony e doesn’t understand human desperation in the face of death.
Now, let’s take it to Tanzania, where the doctors may tell you they know what’s wrong, that it is treatable, but they don’t have the medicine. If you were watching a member of your family dying, tony e, what would you do? Say, “fuck it, I’m a freethinker, I don’t do witchdoctors.” Very wise, especially with your last pennies, but the difference is you had an education, and these poor people had a brainwash. It breaks my heart, and it almost seems to entertain you.
Some nuances have been thrown about indicting the government which previously outlawed the witchdoctors. Until all the facts are in, I am ready to believe that they relaxed their position in order not to deprive desperate people of their last hope.
NeoWolfe
March 30th, 2011 at 8:48 am
But, like everything else that religion offers, it’s false hope. And surely that is the point, NW.
March 30th, 2011 at 11:56 am
NeoWolfe
I will not debate with you.
March 30th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Remind me of the time my parents went back to the motherland to visit… While there they were told of a cure for type 2 diabetes… In hearing about this miracle both my parents when to the holyman for this potion which consisted of sugar being blessed with readings of the Koran!! Really it is a combination of stupidity and desperation for a quick cure…. U may ask did it work Im sure you all know that answer!
March 31st, 2011 at 12:23 am
Marcus said:
“But, like everything else that religion offers, it’s false hope. And surely that is the point, NW.”
“THE” point? No, but when the subject is tossed out there for comment, it certainly is a part of many valid points that could be made. And you are right, if you are to feel empathy with these people, you have to consider that they were born into poverty, denied an adequate education, then, when they are most desperate, they are fleeced of their last pennies by a conman selling false hopes.
Much like the afterlife, that religion has been selling us for millenia, accumulated unimaginable wealth selling it, and never once proven they have fulfilled their promise. A sucker born every second.
NeoWolfe
March 31st, 2011 at 3:58 am
Again, tony e said:
“I will not debate with you.”
I’m starting to believe you. Quoting myself:
“Until all the facts are in, I am ready to believe that they relaxed their position in order not to deprive desperate people of their last hope.”
Actually, that was bait. I expected you, and the rest of the contributers here to assault en mass. After all my bitching about believing things unproven, I guess you were’nt watching for it. Maybe I can relax my wall of paranoia. Or lower my expectations of your debating skills.
NeoWolfe