Tanzania Elects First Albino MP

The election of Salum Khalfani Bar'wani, Tanzania's first albino MP, is being hailed as a breakthrough for those affected by the genetic condition in the east African nation.

Bar'wani, a candidate from the opposing Civic United Front (CUF) party, beat out a ruling party candidate who had served in parliament for 15 years to nab the southern Tanzania Lindi Town constituency seat, the AFP is reporting.

"In the past, people did not believe that an albino or any disabled person could have such an opportunity without sympathy or being favored," Bar'wani is quoted as saying. "Now they believe that we are capable without sympathy."

People suffering from the condition are persecuted in many African countries. According to the Telegraph, dozens of albinos have been killed and dismembered in rituals, under the local belief that charms made from their body parts can bring good luck.

Though Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete had previously nominated an albino woman to parliament in 2008, Bar'wani's opponents urged their supporters to reject him, claiming his condition prevented him from concentrating. "My opponents ridiculed me and residents here were infuriated me," he told the AFP. "They said albinos lack vitamin C and therefore they do not have the ability to think ... they told supporters not to chose an albino because of this."

Comments

[FTracy3]

05:58 PM on 11/05/2010

Good grief..why use a file photo of an African ablino who is not the subject of the article? It's kind of offensive. Can you imagine if a newspaper had headlined Obama as the first black president and showed a picture of Linc from The Mod Squad?

[Havana Thinks]

07:39 AM on 11/04/2010

Congratulations to Bar'wani! I hope you do a fine job & break the stigma! Equality for all people--just know, the world is still working on that--God bless keep you well, I pray...

[Bernique]

08:55 PM on 11/03/2010

I like the trend. People are people no matter what "color" they are.

[Notsosurearewe]

06:34 PM on 11/03/2010

Interesting article. And I definitely didn't know that this type of extremism and racism existed in Tanzania. It also makes me wonder how "White" folks would be treated there - or Asians, etc. - would they also be hunted for their skin color or would they have a chance to live and/or explore the place in peace?

[wavinflag]

06:52 PM on 11/03/2010

Its not so much the skin colour/racial dynamics dynamics as the fact that an 'extremely fair child' is born to parents who are dark skinned. These people can tell the difference between people of Caucasian descent and albinos. Once again, the parents have to be dark skinned for the fair skinned person to be considered 'the devils progeny'. That being said i hate the irrationality that plagues much of my continent, but what can i do:-)

Tanzania does have alot of tourists from Europe, especially people climbing Kilimanjaro or coming to witness the Great Migration. I would not be afraid to visit. But anyway if someone is, then there are other cool places like Paris, Rome, Australia etc

[Notsosurearewe]

07:27 PM on 11/03/2010

Ah. Sounds interesting, if a bit ... well let's just say that I'm glad not to be albino and living there.

[Staxx]

08:01 PM on 11/03/2010

It's not so much of the skin color as it is specifically albinos. They know they are albinos and not some white persons. The whole notion is from superstition and beliefs that are not that different from other religions, really when you think about it. There are "miracle workers", "medicine men", "voodoo doctors", "witch doctors", "juju men", or whatever else they might be known at other places, who claim that the body parts of Albinos hold spiritual powers that can help one achieve many things. That is why some people kidnap and kill them for their body parts. People don't necessarily have anything against them or hate them. The problem is they have always looked down on them like they look down on people with disabilities, that's one disgusting ignorant thing about Tanzanian society. Of course not all Tanzanians are like that, but it's very prevalent. Also this practice is not that common across Africa as they are saying, many Africans find it very strange. I was in Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso last year and many people there have never heard of such a thing. They have their own superstitions but this is not one of them. It's nice to know though that the Tanzanian government is working quite hard to put a stop to this practice.

[Notsosurearewe]

02:14 PM on 11/04/2010

Nicely put. I wish the Tanzanian government all the best in this endeavor.