Police called to investigate Entebbe Road ritual sacrifice incident

The Uganda Police force has been asked to investigate two people filmed slaughtering a goat along Entebbe Road in what he suspects was a ritual sacrifice.

The incident, captured in a video, reportedly occurred around Katabi junction. 

The viral footage shows people dressed in white slaughtering a black goat by the roadside and collecting its blood in a container.

They later carry the carcass away in a waiting Toyota Fielder and drive off. 

Traffic continues to move past the scene, and footage appears to show a police vehicle passing while the slaughter is taking place.

The video does not establish the identities of those involved or their motive and their car plates appear to have been deliberately concealed.

Speaking on Sunday, Pastor Joseph Sserwadda, the senior pastor of Victory Christian Centre in Ndeeba, called on police to identify and question the people involved.

He offered Shs1 million to support the investigation if police lacked resources.

“I am going to provide the police with Shs1 million if they say they do not have fuel or resources to look for these people,” Sserwadda said.

He added that failure to investigate the incident could create the impression that authorities tolerate such practices.

“We shall now believe that the government of Uganda has endorsed witchcraft,” he said.

“Such people are being emboldened by the system. In the video you can even see police trucks driving by as these people slaughter a goat on the road. That means that Uganda has embraced these practices.”

Sserwadda suspects the act was intended to cast spells on motorists and linked it to possible road accidents at the location. 

Uganda's laws make a distinction between witchcraft and legitimate religious or spiritual practices.

The Witchcraft Act criminalises practising witchcraft or holding oneself out as a witch. A conviction can attract imprisonment of up to five years. The law also criminalises hiring someone to practise witchcraft for evil purposes.

The penalties become heavier where threats are involved. A person who threatens another with death through witchcraft or other supernatural means faces life imprisonment upon conviction. 

Threatening disease or physical harm through supernatural means carries a sentence of up to 10 years.

However, the Act expressly excludes “bona fide spirit worship” and the genuine manufacture, supply or sale of native medicines from its definition of witchcraft. 

This means the mere performance of a traditional or spiritual ceremony does not, by itself, establish the offence of witchcraft.

The Constitution also protects freedom of thought, conscience and belief and the right to practise and manifest religion in a manner consistent with the Constitution.

The roadside slaughter could raise separate questions under animal welfare and road safety laws depending on how it was carried out.

The Animals (Prevention of Cruelty) Act makes it an offence to kill an animal in an unnecessarily cruel manner or cause it unnecessary suffering. The law defines a public place to include a public way such as a highway or street.

The Traffic and Road Safety Act also requires people controlling domestic animals on roads or in public places to prevent them from becoming a danger or annoyance to the public.

Police had not publicly announced an investigation into the incident by publication time.