“He is My Chief, so I Cannot Take Him On” – Violence, Injustice and Shattered Lives in an African Country
It was a typical sunny Thursday morning in August 2024 in a small town nestled within one of Africa’s bustling cities. Katangi* had just returned home after dropping his children off school, ready to start his day running his small business selling mobile phone accessories and offering mobile money transfer services. Little did he know, his life was about to take a harrowing turn.
The phone rang at about 8 am, and Katangi answered, thinking it was a business call. He provided the caller with his location using Google Maps. Unknown to him, the call was from a vigilante group working in cahoots with the local chief. They traced his number on the phone of a friend who had been brutally beaten and tied to a tree at the chief’s house. The friend was suspected of being gay, and after ransacking his room, withdrawing his money, and obtaining his password through severe beatings, the group began tracing and calling all his contacts. Katangi was one of the unfortunate ones.
The vigilante group arrived in a convoy of motorbikes. As soon as they identified Katangi, who lived with his wife and other tenants, they began beating and loudly accusing him of being gay. They turned to his wife and asked, “Do you know your husband is gay? He and his friends are responsible for the lack of rain in this community because of their evil deeds.” They accused Katangi of engaging in homosexual acts for money. Katangi’s wife retorted, “My husband broke. We are currently managing this small business. He does not have money, so it is not true that he got money from sex with gay people.”
Despite her protests, the group continued to beat Katangi in front of his wife and neighbors. They then dragged him to the chief’s house. Katangi recounted his ordeal: “I was embarrassed. So ashamed. Many people came around, cursing me. People slapped me from behind. My face was swollen. They called me names. They took me to the chief palace. The palace was like a market day. People were taking pictures of me. The media was there, including a television station filming me. They brought different types of canes, some with metal in them. Before anyone could ask anything, they beat you first. They asked you whom you knew, the people you had sex with, and the people who were gay. I was tied and beaten throughout the day. They gave me nothing to drink. The chief and his elders were there. My friend, whose phone they used to trace me, was also there, tied and being beaten. None of the elders asked us anything. They did not give us the opportunity to talk. The elders said we should be killed and no one would know or do anything.”
The torment continued as Katangi and his friend were forced to buy a ram and a fowl as a pacification for the gods and pay a sum equivalent to approximately 500 US Dollars. Katangi’s friend had his motorbike confiscated, and his ATM card was used to withdraw all his money. After paying the fines and providing the demanded animals, they were released around 6 pm. One of the elders took pity for them and suggested that they be taken to the hospital for first aid. The nurse, who initially showed sympathy, quickly changed her demeanor when a vigilante member mentioned that Katangi was gay. She hastily dressed his wounds and claimed that she had finished doing so.
For several months, Katangi had experienced physical pain and emotional trauma. His business was ruined, and he could not muster the courage to return to it, as everyone in the community now believed he was a gay and avoided him. He could not seek police assistance because in his area, the police did not interfere with matters handled by the chief. He struggled to find a job, as everyone knew him. He had to change his children’s school because they were teased as children of a gay person. He had to relocate temporarily but eventually returned, facing tough circumstances.
Reflecting on his ordeal, Katangi said, “There is some inner peace and rest when you get justice, but how are you going to take on the chief?”
*The text uses a pseudonym to protect the identity of a person who shared his story with the researcher.
