Essay by Eric Worrall
In Africa, if someone claims to have magical abilities and takes your money, then the magic doesn’t work, things can get serious.
Africa’s rainmakers still in demand but face challenges from climate change
By AP
UGANDAAfrican rainmakers have long been revered as spiritual leaders who perform rituals to bring rain, with the role often passed down through generations. But climate change is raising expectations they cannot meet, leaving rainmakers increasingly blamed for drought — and in extreme cases, killed by mobs.
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For generations, communities across Africa have revered spiritual leaders known as “rainmakers,” who perform rituals to call for rain.
The role is often passed down through generations, with the rainmaking spirit believed to enter members of particular clans.
But with increasingly erratic weather, the rainmakers are becoming victims of their own reputation.
Across parts of sub-Saharan Africa, farmers who depend on rainfall for their livelihoods are placing enormous expectations on those believed to have the power to summon it.
And when the rain fails to come, some rainmakers are paying the ultimate price.
In South Sudan, which borders Uganda to the north, at least two rainmakers have been killed in the past few years.
In 2024, Solomon Oture was buried alive in the remote village of Lohobohobo during a dry spell. In June, in a southeastern area facing a prolonged dry spell, men abducted a rainmaker named Albino Lobillia and buried him alive.
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Read more: https://www.africanews.com/2026/09/15/africas-rainmakers-still-in-demand-but-face-challenges-from-climate-change/
I’m sorry people are getting hurt, but frankly if you tell desperate people you can save them and take their money, and your claims turn out to be false, you can understand the victims of your fraud becoming a little upset.
Imagine if that money had been spent digging wells or drilling water bores instead.
