For quite a while now, many individuals have been labelling the political persecution of Donald Trump as a ‘witch hunt’. Well, now we can say an actual witch hunt took place in Africa, where recently a politician was arrested and charged with witchcraft. I don’t think that’s something we’d see over here in the states, but I could be wrong.
The leader of the United Seychelles Party (USP), Patrick Herminie, was released on bail Monday after being charged with witchcraft. This comes after the arrest of a Tanzanian national in September for possessing items that were believed to be connected to witchcraft activities.
Herminie called his arrest “a political show” as he is expected to run in the upcoming 2025 presidential elections. President Wavel Ramkalawan has yet to comment on these charges as Herminie denied any involvement with witchcraft beliefs.
Seychelles opposition leader Patrick Herminie charged with witchcraft https://t.co/Ov9JK082TH
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 3, 2023
2020-2023 has been an extremely tumultuous time for African politics and leaders across the continent.
In 2020, Gabon saw its leader overthrown in a coup and Niger experienced the same fate just one year later. Burkina Faso followed suit in 2022 when its president was similarly ousted from power. The most recent incident with Patrick Herminie reignites fears that democracy might not be as stable across Africa’s east coast as it should be.
Witchcraft allegations are nothing new when it comes to politics, especially within African countries where superstition is more common than in other parts of the world. However, this does not make these allegations any less serious or damaging to those affected by them, such as Patrick Hermine who could see his political career derailed due to these charges before they even began if found guilty in court.
This raises questions about how such superstitious beliefs can impact politics and whether or not they should influence the decision-making process within government offices or committees at all.
