Don’t give your cars, houses to fake prophets – Oshana police chief

The Oshana police has warned the public to be on the lookout for swindlers posing as witch doctors and fake prophets.

Oshana regional commander commissioner Naftal Sakaria this week told The Namibian about the case of a woman scammed by a fake prophet.

“Some of them (victims) are giving away their houses and vehicles. I remember a case of a woman in Windhoek who called telling me about her car that she gave to a prophet to use. He changed the ownership and claimed it’s his car,” Sakaria said.

New Era reported last year that the police were investigating a self-proclaimed herbalist for scamming pensioners.

The Ohangwena police also investigated a case of three women allegedly scammed of N$700 000 by a close male friend, who pretended to be a female traditional healer.

Sakaria warned the public against seeking medical help from witch doctors and self-proclaimed prophets, urging people to prioritise hospitals for healthcare.

“Let them seek medical help or they risk losing their hard-earned cash,” he said.

Sakaria cited a recent incident at Ongwediva where a traditional healer advertised his services on social media, claiming to possess the ability to cure afflictions caused by ‘spirits’.

Despite the lack of evidence supporting these claims, the individual extorted N$100 000 from a desperate woman.

The Oshana police had to intervene in the matter to recover the money from the traditional healer and return it to its rightful owner, Sakaria added.

“The man defended himself that yes, he possesses those skills and he just advertised his business and people come by will.” [sic]

He highlighted that this was not an isolated case.

Sakaria said witch doctors normally use aliases to lure would-be customers, while Namibians claiming to be witch doctors operate under false foreign sounding names and pretend not to speak local languages.

He cited the example of a Namibian who allegedly claimed to be a foreigner but later confessed to being a Namibian.

Sakaria said before the man confessed, he claimed to cleanse people, until residents of his village visited him and recognised him.

The commissioner said in most cases the victims do not register cases with the police because all they want is to get the money they gave to the witch doctors back.

“They usually have that fear that they are dealing with somebody with extra powers that can haunt them if they insist on opening cases. In most cases they say if I get my things back that’s the end of it, I don’t want to open a case,” Sakaria said.

Two weeks ago, The Namibian reported on ‘witch doctor’ Kenedy Kasume who was accused of swindling a pensioner of her house in 2014.

Kasume has denied any wrongdoing.

The trial, which has been unfolding in the Windhoek High Court for over 10 years, continues on 22 September.

Two weeks ago, president Nangolo Mbumba cautioned religious leaders against taking advantage of people.