Parliament told: More to sorcery than violence

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THE issue of sorcery and witchcraft is a complex one which the Government must properly understand the roots and fundamentals of, says Gulf Governor Chris Haiveta, pictured.
Haiveta was responding to an update given by Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Davis Steven on the work his ministry and the department were doing to address sorcery and witchcraft-related violence.
“I have seen that the paper presented by the attorney-general only talks about sorcery and witchcraft related violence which is only the end result. But we need to go beyond that and look further into the root and fundamentals surrounding the issue to better address it,” Haiveta said.
He said the Government did not have a policy saying that witchcraft or sorcery don’t exist in the country.
Kiriwina-Goodenough MP Douglas Tomuriesa said beliefs in witchcraft and sorcery had been existing for ages.
“Those beliefs has been on this land for centuries and if we have to address it, we need to understand all the aspects of it to better
address the issue and not just concentrate on violence which is the end result.”