According to James Onen aka Fatboy, many people lack scientific and psychological knowledge about certain mental and physical conditions, attaching their signs to demon possessions and attacks.
Fatboy was commenting on the situation in the Tororo district that has seen hundreds of residents flee their homes in alleged demon attacks after speculations emerged that some community members joined the Illuminati group - a satanic cult to accumulate wealth.
According to residents, the demons also attack women at night, making them violent against their husbands, while many women claimed the demons had sexually used them.
According to Wakasiki Cell LC1 chairperson Opieka Opendi Ojwang, illiteracy levels are feared to increase as school-going children return home due to similar allegations.
“Well, Mr.Ojwang has this backward; the illiteracy is making people have a less understanding of science and the real world, hence believing that they are attacked by demons and fleeing,” said Fatboy during The Fatboy Show, Tuesday morning.
He also recalled carrying out an investigation in 2010 about a similar alleged demon possession that had caused panic and a shut down of a primary school in Nateete. However, the report indicated that there was mass hysteria guised as demon possession due to inadequate rational and scientific understanding of the causes of violent behavior.
Olive Najjuma, the show co-host, believed in the presence of two powers, good and evil. But also, said most people in illiterate communities associate medical or psychological conditions with demon possession, believing that they are bewitched even before they have a scientific examination of the situation.
Fatboy further referred to a report in a local daily indicating that 14 million Ugandans are mentally ill relating to the number of people that need psychological help but conclude that they are bewitched.
“Many Ugandans are victims of sexual or physical abuse, poor nutrition, and emotional distress. Most Ugandans need counseling and mental health care, which is unattended to, so we just walk around like ticking time bombs and what it usually takes is one triggering event for a normal person to do something crazy, like hacking their children. That’s mental illness,” he concluded.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.