Liberia’s interim president warned on Wednesday against ritual murder aimed at securing political posts through black magic, saying he would sign the death warrant of anyone convicted of the practice.
”Those who think they can easily take the life of another person and go free, are making a big mistake,” Charles Gyude Bryant said in a nationwide radio broadcast.
”It has been brought to our attention that some people are killing their fellow humans and extracting parts to go to the ‘juju’ man to make them become president or parliamentarian,” he said, adding, ”stop it.”
Cases of people being killed and body parts extracted are frequent in Liberia whenever elections are about to be held in the country, apparently by politicians in quest of power through black magic, or ”juju”.
With elections due in October, there have been numerous reports of such murders from Grand Bassa, Grand Kru and River Gee counties, about 300km southeast of Monrovia.
Both the government and the United Nations peacekeeping force in the West African state have said there is no evidence, but Bryant said Wednesday, ”Some people have been arrested and we are currently carrying out investigations.”
He warned those responsible, ”I will sign your death warrant and go to sleep without thinking about it.
”This cannot make you become president, senator or representative. Stop fooling yourself. My government will not tolerate such a criminal and inhuman act from the part of whosoever it may be.”
The elections are due to take place on October 11, bringing to an end Gyude Bryant’s interim presidency, which started in October 2003 after his controversial predecessor, Charles Taylor, left for exile in Nigeria.-Sapa-AFP