From Healer’s Son to Policeman: Tracing My Journey Through Witchcraft, Policing, and Harmful Killings in Southern Africa

Emmanuel Silika Gomo playing the mbira for some researchers.

Picture courtesy of Jocelyn Mory.

by Dr Keith K Silika

Introduction

I was about ten years old when I first grasped what my father, Emmanuel Silika Gomo, did for a living.

Moving in with him, I was astonished to see half a dozen people queuing outside our home every day, waiting to consult him. He had two offices at the back of the house—a working office and a healing room. The healing room was his sanctuary, where clients sought remedies for ailments, mostly infertility and witchcraft-related issues. His specialty was fertility, evident from the walls adorned with pictures of children he’d helped conceive. I once barged into his healing room, assuming it was open to all, only to be scolded mid-consultation—an early lesson in the gravity of his work.

In addition to healing work, my father was also a prolific mbira player (a native musical instrument that is played by plucking metal keys attached to a wooden board, normally played at ceremonies and festivals). This talent led him to be invited to more healing or cleansing ceremonies.

My father’s practice wasn’t abstract to me. He occasionally enlisted us, his sons, to prepare concoctions for male fertility—boiling meat for hours, adding powders he’d crafted, then serving it to clients. I assisted once or twice a month, a vivid memory that tethered me to his world.

As Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Healers Association, he also tasked me with drafting letters for him as he had only primary level education. Through this, I glimpsed the professional challenges healers faced: disputes over practices, fertility concerns, and occasional whispers of witchcraft gone awry.

This immersion at a young age planted seeds of curiosity about the role belief in witchcraft played in society.

From Policing to Research: A Journey Across Borders

My father never encouraged us to follow in his footsteps. He wanted me to become a teacher, an option I rejected outright. Instead, I joined the Zimbabwean police, much to his chagrin.

During training and deployment, witchcraft cases surfaced occasionally - complex, sensitive matters I can’t delve into here. They left an impression, though, highlighting the tension between cultural beliefs and legal frameworks.

Years later, I joined the police in the United Kingdom, where I pursued a Master’s degree and later received a PhD in Forensic Science. My academic journey took me from believer to sceptic and mirrored my evolving perspective about witchcraft. The practices I’d once accepted clashed with the principles of law and science I now embraced.

In my work as a Police Officer in Zimbabwe, stories from friends and relatives exposed me to witchcraft’s raw realities, including revealing how much those beliefs are entrenched in our everyday lives. Often these beliefs resulted in negative outcomes, such as witchcraft accusations resulting in deaths, healing ceremonies going wrong, and child abductions for ritual purposes—just some of the examples.

These experiences, deepened by my doctoral research in forensic science, fuelled my transition from practitioner to researcher. My father’s legacy as a healer, coupled with my policing career and advanced studies, set the stage for my current work—examining harmful killings tied to witchcraft accusations in Southern Africa.

Research Preview: Harmful Killings in Southern Africa

This blog post marks the prelude to my research, a tribute to my father’s name and a contribution to understanding the belief in witchcraft’s darker side. Over the coming months, I’ll investigate the harm and killings in Southern Africa related to witchcraft accusations, focusing on dimensions that involve policing evidence collection, prevention strategies, detection methods, and investigation protocols.

Drawing from my past, my PhD research, and planned interviews, I aim to shed light on how these practices persist and how they can be addressed forensically.

My approach blends ethnography—rooted in my childhood and policing insights—with forensic science. I’ll explore autopsy reports to map injuries, potentially developing an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to detect patterns in victims of ritual attacks.

This research will support the United Nations Resolution 47/8 on harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft

and ritual attacks (A/HRC/RES/47/8), offering practical contributions:

• enhanced investigation protocols

• police training to demystify witchcraft-related objects and narratives, and

• strategies for prevention and detection.

The goal is to equip law enforcement to focus on the essentials—evidence and justice—rather than fear or folklore.

Why This Matters: A Call to Action

This work is urgent. Every other week in Southern Africa, a child is maimed or killed, their body parts harvested for rituals based on myths, for example, that certain organs bring wealth or power if harvested from certain individuals.

My research will unveil these beliefs, challenge them with evidence, and propose solutions. It spans human rights, forensic science, AI, and cultural law, aligning with the mission of the International Network Against Witchcraft Accusations and Ritual Attacks (INAWARA). This Network tirelessly combats witchcraft accusations and ritual attacks, advocating for victims, raising awareness, and supporting research to dismantle these harms. My work builds on their efforts, contributing forensic and policing perspectives to their global fight.

This is just the beginning. Beyond policing, there’s room for psychology, education, and community-driven prevention to eradicate these practices. I’m honoured to collaborate with the Network, sharing findings to inspire others to tackle investigation, detection, and education in any context.

My father was right—I’ve become a teacher after all, not in a classroom, but through a PhD-informed research journey that honours his healing legacy.

📢 Join the conversation! Do you have insights or experiences related to witchcraft, policing, or forensic science? Comment below or connect with INAWARA!