'Is this liver human?': Child sacrifice and moral panics in Uganda

In 2010, the BBC broadcast a salacious story about child sacrifice in Uganda. A ‘witchdoctor’, who had become a Christian preacher, was the charismatic leading character, and claims were made that thousands of children were being sacrificed for purposes of witchcraft. The journalist won a major prize, and versions of his tale were heard and seen in Uganda on radio and television. Despite his account being substantially fictitious, it helped trigger a moral panic. A host of NGOs and activists became involved, and vigilante groups targeted alleged perpetrators. In 2021, as if existing legislation did not already make killing and mutilating people a crime, a Bill was approved by the Ugandan Parliament, making human sacrifice illegal. This occurred in the same month as a new Bill further criminalizing homosexuality. Legislation against human sacrifice and homosexuality has been presented as complementary by the Ugandan government and has been defended as responding to widespread concerns about child safety. The article discusses these developments, and comments on how promoting moral panic about child sacrifice is more likely to lead to the mistreatment of spuriously accused individuals than to improve accountability for heinous acts.