Govt urged to understand what causes sorcery-related crimes

 MUCH has been said and debated over sorcery-related crimes but there is little understanding of its essence in a developing country like Papua New Guinea, a church official says.

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC-PNG) Papua district youth president Dika Napkai said MPs as legislators did not fully comprehend the root cause of sorcery-related crimes.

“Sorcery itself is a traditional belief and it has sub-systems that are intertwined and require not only patience but tolerance to investigate and further articulate with confidence,” she said.

Napkai said sorcery touched on ethical issues about good conduct and practices. 

“It has sets of rules and procedures and the ability to go by its rules to suit individual interests,” she said.

“This is a process for entering into agreement which enables different parties to arrive at an amicable deal or agreement.

“Such a country like ours often makes some painful decisions and sacrifices as it moves from its traditional values and epistemic systems to the modern monetised global community,” Napkai said. 

She urged the government to be careful when dealing with sorcery “which in one way or the other bind the socio-political and economical values of the country”. 

Napkai said despite the arrival of Christianity in PNG, traditional beliefs were still rampant.  

“Sorcery is approaching a breakthrough, and if we can establish a dialogue on controversial issues it will be possible to gradually resolve misunderstandings and facilitate further development.”