Number of sorcery cases drop: Priest

By GLORIA BAUAI
A CHURCH official helping promote peace in Hela says advocacy against sorcery-related violence may slowly be having an impact.
Fr Isaiah Timba, from the Mendi diocese, said the rate of cases related to sorcery violence had slowed down.
He said some villages had not reported cases at all over the last two years.
“When I was a parish peace (advocate) of the cathedral back in 2019, we had a social issue team that would go out for social awareness doing dramas and performing songs,” he said.
“So far, for two years, there have been no reports of any new cases coming from the area where we did our awareness, whereas in areas we haven’t been to, we still get cases.
“This is telling us something.”
Fr Isaiah said despite the “very little progress”, there was much more to be done.
He said after 46 years of independence, the Government was still not equally sharing the burden of sorcery-related violence.
“We will still have challenges because of lack of Government enforcement,” he said.
Fr Isaiah said victims were mostly the vulnerable people in the society; those without a strong support system.
He acknowledged international non-governmental organisations in the province who were helping efforts by the church and individuals to put an end to sorcery-related violence.
Fr Isaiah said tribal fighting and influx of modern weapons were other challenges faced by the diocese in the province.
He said all the violence stemmed from people’s love for money.
Fr Isaiah said to see a shift in this mentality, change must start from the family unit.