By Editorial
Tanzanian authorities have arrested two church leaders for allegedly detaining dozens of sick people while promising to heal them through prayer and traditional herbs.
The more than 100 people were being kept in so-called traditional wards, the mud-walled huts with brick beds, built around the church in Nyamhinza village, Misungwi district, in the north-western region of Mwanza – with no medical treatment or food being provided.
Some had been there for up to a month and they were required to find food for themselves until they fully recovered.
They were found after locals alerted the police that some people were dying after leaving hospitals, including a woman who had joined the church soon after giving birth to twins.
At the end of last week, the police took the sick people back to hospitals for treatment as they investigate possible deaths and whether there are bodies buried nearby.
Mwanza regional police commander, Wilbroad Mutafungwa, told journalists yesterday that initial investigations didn’t show there were people buried there but they were still keeping a close watch. END