Several residents of Mukono District in central Uganda have accused religious leaders, traditional healers and witchdoctors of spreading wrong information about Ebola Virus Disease which has so far killed 135 people and killed 53 in the country.
Religious leaders, witchdoctors and traditional healers in the rural settings of the district have reportedly been telling residents that they will not get infected if they continue to pray or give offerings in the form of money, according to local leaders.
Kyampisi Sub County chairperson, Jamir Yiga said the pastors and witchdoctors are offering gullible residents and followers false miraculous powers from their gods and African spirits for protection against the highly contagious disease.
He said tactics such as ritual cleansing and exorcism which the false pastors and traditional healers deployed during Covid-19 which claimed hundreds of lives in the country are the same they have redeployed to defraud unsuspecting followers.
According to Hakim Mukasa, one of the residents of Gunda village, traditional healers in his neighborhood have for long been discouraging residents against taking vaccines against viruses such as Covid-19 and Ebola.
Last month, President Museveni ordered traditional healers and religious leaders to stop treating or receiving sick people in a bid to halt the spread of Ebola.
