Chronicle Editor
Cultural heritage with Patisa Nyathi
WHEN I undertook a trip to Lusaka in Zambia, some few months ago, one of my objectives was to check if indeed the University of Zambia (Unza) was offering a degree in witchcraft. It was not my intention though to seek enrolment at the tertiary institution if it turned out they were offering that academic qualification. Curiosity in and passion for the field has always fascinated me.
As it turned out, my host Dr Gankhanani had earlier on wished to undertake studies in the same socially maligned field. As I pointed out in an earlier article some government minister dissuaded him from pursuing that route. At least I still managed to get to the Unza where I presented a paper on the re-awakening of Africa.
I too had, even ahead of Dr Gankhanani, expressed my interest in the same field. I did not desire to become a witch. In any case, one does not become a witch by virtue of studying the subject. It is true that one who studies Physics becomes a Physicist. One who studies Biology becomes a Biologist. One who studies Meteorology ends up a Meteorologist. It is not so with witchcraft.
My view on the field in which I am a stranger does not produce witches. One can study the phenomenon and become au fait with how it works and its underlying principles and laws. One never ends up a witch. As the Journey to Ancient African Science (AAS) officially kicks off today, it will become clear why one may study witchcraft and yet will not become a practicing one.
For now, let me simply indicate that there are important qualifications necessary for one to become a witch. The same applies to traditional doctors. One may learn traditional herbs and become a practicing herbalist. This sort of training is akin to that which produces medical doctors in societies that follow western ideas and epistemologies. Theoretically, a witch may simultaneously be a traditional doctor. Likewise, a traditional doctor may, at the same time, practice witchcraft. It is all about spiritual endowment, a gift from conception.
In both, spirituality is a necessary ingredient or endowment. Traditional doctors are born and not trained at some medical school. Yes, as we shall see, they undergo initiation for reasons that will be brought out. When mature biologically, they will undergo some initiation for the same reasons that traditional doctors do. One is set, if the right conditions are fulfilled, to become one from conception.
Perhaps I have wandered a bit too far, this being the first article in the new series. In 2021 there was some media story carried by Naira.com to the effect that the University of Machakos in Kenya was set to initiate a degree program in witchcraft. It was then reported that the institution, if it indeed went ahead with its plans, was going to be the second university to offer such a program intended to run for four years.
The unnamed University’s Vice Chancellor had indicated that in the broader Machako County, there was a lot of indigenous expertise that can be harnessed for the benefit of society. Through the inaugural program, the course would ensure that cultural and historical knowledge are not lost.
On April 21 was the proposed commencement date for the pioneering program. Lecturers, it was reported, were going to come from Kenya itself, Haiti, Mexico, and Zanzibar. It was also reported that the course would be done at night. It was time when Covid-19 was wreaking havoc in the world.
Here I have a problem. It is true that witchcraft is practiced at night. What the Machakos University seeks to produce are not witches but students that understand the subject and field of witchcraft. The two, as I have already alluded to above, are very different. Accordingly, the time of day when the subject is studied is of no material value.
There are reports that Professor Gordon Chavunduka of the University of Zimbabwe (UZ)’s Sociology Department studied the field of witchcraft. Reports further indicate he even undertook nocturnal trips in the company of witches. That was not intended to turn the professor into a witch, but just a way of obtaining first-hand practical experience. Surely, travelling in the company of witches at night does not, of necessity, turn one into a witch.
In some countries, witches are unionised and advocate for their freedoms and rights. On occasions, they have demonstrated to interested parties how they ply their trade. In countries such as Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) witchcraft narratives have migrated from underneath carpets to the public domain.
A few weeks ago, I was reading about a proposed new curriculum to be used in Zimbabwean schools. The relevant ministry is keeping the document under wraps. One thing almost certain is that there will be nothing in the culture section with a bearing on the field of witchcraft.
If Zimbabwean parents and guardians screamed their lungs out over Cala, they would yell when elements of culture indicate connections to witchcraft. Pretenders! It would not be turning pupils into witches but familiarizing them with the essence of African culture. Those set to become witches are well on the way towards becoming such!
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