MAPUTO — At least 60 people have been killed by mobs in Mozambique over the past month following a wave of hysteria driven by unfounded superstitions claiming that sorcerers were shrinking or stealing men’s penises. The violence, concentrated in Cabo Delgado Province, has drawn comparisons to medieval witch-hunts and prompted condemnation from human rights organisations across the region.
The rumours, which appear to have spread from Tanzania, accuse individuals of using witchcraft to cause impotence, with vigilante groups taking the law into their own hands. The National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) in Mozambique has condemned the violence, saying lynching suspects without trial violates fundamental constitutional rights.
The panic first surfaced in late April, with early reports indicating at least 11 deaths. The numbers have since escalated sharply, with local monitors saying the actual figure could be even higher due to underreporting in rural areas where community justice is often carried out outside official channels.
The phenomenon echoes historical witch-hunts documented across Africa and beyond. The notorious 15th century witch-hunting manual Malleus Malificarum, or “Hammer of the Witches,” claimed that witches could steal penises, a superstition that has periodically resurfaced in various parts of the world. Human rights researchers say the spread of such beliefs through social media and informal networks has contributed to the rapid escalation of violence.
Cabo Delgado, already devastated by a decade-long insurgency by armed groups linked to the Islamic State, is now dealing with a parallel crisis of internal violence driven by superstition. Aid organisations say the dual shocks of insurgency and mob justice are creating a climate of fear that is impeding access to humanitarian assistance in affected areas.
The Legal and Human Rights Centre in Tanzania has reported that up to 500 people accused of witchcraft are lynched every year in Tanzania alone, suggesting the problem is far more widespread than official figures indicate. Experts say the intersection of poverty, lack of education, and weak rule of law creates fertile ground for such panics to take root.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has called on Mozambican authorities to take urgent action to stop the violence, ensure those responsible are held accountable, and launch public education campaigns to counter the spread of dangerous misinformation. The CNDH has urged communities to report suspected sorcerers through proper legal channels rather than taking matters into their own hands.
As the death toll continues to rise, advocates say the crisis reflects broader failures of governance and public service delivery in Mozambique’s rural north, where state institutions are often absent and communities rely on informal mechanisms of justice that can easily spiral into violence.