Elephant’s Eye: Sousa Jamba says a soap opera about witchcraft has stirred up a witches’ brew in Angola
There is a recording making the rounds in Angola of a furious pastor denouncing a soap opera on DStv about witchcraft. “If the Devil were to return to the earth,” fumes the pastor, ”the press conference would be on DStv!”
It is not only the pastor who has come out against the soap opera; other Angolan figures are concerned that the glamorisation of the practice will corrupt the nation.
It seems odd that a fictional treatment of witchcraft should upset some Angolans. When I lived in the interior of Angola for six years, stories of witchcraft dominated all conversations.
I recall the story of an arrogant young man who disrespected the elders and began to be pursued by a lion that only he could see. The elders had apparently used their extraordinary powers to make him see this gigantic lion.
The relatives of the young man went to a kimbadeiro — a witch doctor — who gave him special charms and made him do some rituals – including apologizing to the elders!
In the nearby town of Bailundo, there was a neighbourhood with a house that was frequented by pretty young women from Benguela and even Lubango.
Apparently, all these came to see a witch doctor who had a reputation for having the right charms to find wealthy husbands; this witch doctor became so successful that he had a gadget to read debit and credit cards.
The story is that the witch doctor became too wealthy and married a young woman who had come in search of a rich man. His wife, who was thrown out, knew a thing or two about charms and began a church; at the end of the month the Virgin Mary would visit her and instruct her to meet on top of Lumbanganda mountain.
Not only did her women followers find husbands with money, but men were promoted and some even bought motorcycles.
Those who have been commenting on the anger pastors feel towards the soap opera dealing with witchcraft have noted that what is upsetting the pastors is that the kimbadeiros will be competing with them.
In most churches in Angola pastors insist that those who will follow them and pay their tithes without questioning will be rewarded with good cars, job promotions, husbands, and bank accounts with balances beyond their dreams.
One of the leading actors in the soap opera is a former French teacher of Congolese origin called Charlesbois Poity.
He is perhaps the most popular witch doctor in Angola; he often appears on television and radio talk shows. He has a shop selling charms that bring wealth and love and take care of gentlemen having difficulties rising up to the nocturnal challenges.
Poity advertises his charms on most radio stations. Being in a soap opera playing a witch doctor is good for business. Some pastors can’t stand this.
Not a single day goes by without there being a story involving witchcraft in the Angolan national news.
The other day, in the city of Namibe, a woman was taken into police custody after her neighbours saw her change into a boa constrictor! A woman from Lunda province revealed that a witch doctor had asked her to sacrifice her close relations so she could stay married to her husband.
In my hometown of Huambo, there was a story about a woman who had fallen from the sky (and survived the fall) after the traditional combustion engine that had her in the sky ran out of traditional fuel. At a football match, chicken legs were found next to a goal post; the goalkeeper had actually been acting like a chicken during the penalties.
These stories are usually followed by conversations emphasising just how strange and mysterious our country is. This is fertile ground for pastors who promise to rid the country of these devilish practices.
I once went to a village in the Angolan highlands named Goshen. In the Bible, this was the land that Pharaoh gave to the Jews; it was the land of the pure.
A pastor of the apostolic church in the village of Mombolo told me that he had decided to start Goshen village because he wanted to be somewhere where nobody believed in witchcraft.
The village soon grew. There was, however, a big challenge: some elderly men began to fight for senior posts in the Holy Village. Some could not stand the idea that they had been left out of the deaconships.
Charges of witchcraft were soon being bandied about, and the village lost its innocence!
Pictured above: Mahinga, the Angolan soapie that is making waves
Image source: Facebook
