Attacks on people with albinism in Tanzania
This week, we start in Tanzania where people with albinism continue to face discrimination and violence. Next, we travel to Cameroon where there is a growing concern over the increasing femicide cases. Finally, we stop in Nigeria, where visually impaired students struggle with discrimination in universities, particularly during exams.
But first, in Kampala, Uganda, a father’s worst nightmare comes true with a phone call. Winnie Mwesigwa, a school principal, had gone missing. Days later, her body was found by the roadside—swollen, half-naked, and abandoned. Her family believes her murder was linked to her recent promotion, which had upset some colleagues. Now, five months later, they are still waiting for justice in a country where too many women’s deaths go unanswered.
Read an excerpt here👇🏽:
“They studied the same degree course together,” Mulwanyi recalls. “That friend of hers used to visit our home often. They even helped treat us and our families for various ailments.”
Mutebi asked when he had last spoken to Winnie. It had been about eight days. Sensing something was wrong, Mulwanyi pressed for details. After a brief hesitation, Mutebi revealed he had last spoken to her on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 8:18 p.m.
At that moment, a sudden weakness overtook Mulwanyi, his knees nearly giving way beneath him.
“That alone was enough to tell me that something was terribly wrong with my daughter.”
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Christina Ekobena* has lived in Douala in Francophone Cameroon for five years. She was forced to relocate outside her native Kumba in Anglophone Cameroon after her father brutally beat her mother to death.
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On a sunny morning in mid-October 2024, Chikamso Ogbu* stood by the front wall of Okpara Hall, one of the female hostels at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu State, southeastern Nigeria.
Save for her frequent groping and occasional calls for help from passers-by, it was not immediately apparent that the 300-level undergraduate was visually impaired. She neither walked with an aide nor wore sunglasses.
She was trying to attend a lecture in her class but needed aid getting to the class.
Her hopes rose when she noticed that two people–also undergraduates–were passing by. She appealed to them to help take her to class, but they rebuffed her.
She had spent more than an hour and had already become frustrated when her friend, who often guided her, arrived. Together, they hurried to the class, carefully climbing the stairs. They would later find out the class had been cancelled.