Election Time: A Living Nightmare for Tanzania's Albinism Community

Sat Oct 25 2025 16:42:05 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

As elections loom in Tanzania, the fears of those with albinism intensify, reviving memories of violence rooted in superstition. This article shares the harrowing experiences of Mariam Staford and how she and others continue to endure threats during political seasons.

Tanzanians with albinism, like Mariam Staford, face heightened dangers during election seasons as superstitions lead to violent attacks. Despite past government crackdowns and growing awareness, the threat remains a grim reality. Mariam recounts her own horrific experience during the elections of 2008 and reflects on fears that persist as the next voting cycle approaches.

Fresh trauma arrives with every election season in Tanzania for 42-year-old Mariam Staford.

For most, the fiesta-like rallies and songs along with the campaign messages signal a chance for people to make their voice heard. But for those with albinism, they bring terror.

Warning: This article contains details of graphic violence that some people may find upsetting.

The first thing that comes to me is fear, Mariam tells the BBC as people prepare to vote for a president and parliament on Wednesday. I know that killings of people with albinism happen especially at election time in Tanzania, when witchcraft beliefs intensify. That's why I don't take part in campaigns… I am so afraid.

Albinism affects an estimated 30,000 people in Tanzania, a rare genetic condition that reduces melanin, the pigment that provides color to skin, eyes, and hair. Superstitions might lead to attacks targeting people with this condition, driven by false beliefs that their body parts bring wealth, luck, or political success.

Activists claim that such assaults intensify during elections as individuals compete for political clout. The horrifying dangers of these beliefs are personally familiar to Mariam.

In 2008, machete-wielding men crashed into her Kagera bedroom during local elections. They came at a late hour of the night, cut off my right hand [from above the elbow] and took it away, and then they also cut off my left hand. The next day I was taken to a dispensary, unconscious, and the doctor who saw me said: 'This person is already dead, take her back home and bury her'.

Against the odds, Mariam survived but suffered devastating physical and emotional trauma. Seventeen years later, she recalls, Even now, I sometimes dream of that night. When I wake up, I touch my arms and remember they are not there. It is something I will never escape.

The organization Under the Same Sun reports that there have been over 211 attacks on people with albinism in Tanzania since 2008, with 79 people killed. Although efforts have been made to increase awareness about the dangers faced by this community, the superstitions causing violence have not fully dissipated.

As elections approach, Mariam remains homebound, avoiding the polls due to the ever-present fear that surrounds her. Instead, I will spend the day quietly at home in Kilimanjaro, she shares, highlighting a disheartening reality for many within a demographic still facing severe discrimination in Tanzania.