On the left is Djemba Rumiramayengo, in the centre is Hillary Musoke and another official of the event. Photo urn
KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | Traditional healers and herbalists in Uganda have formed a new umbrella organisation, the Reunited Association of Traditional Healers and Herbalists.
The association brings together practitioners from over 18 organisations from different districts and regions of the country. Previously, traditional and herbal healers worked under different associations and there were no uniform rules or guidelines.
The new association's chairman, Djemba Rumiramayengo of the Gulden Traditional Healers Association, said the association was aimed at curbing quack herbalists in the country, who he said were implicated in cases of human sacrifice in the country.
Rumiramayengo also stressed the need to crack down on those who are grabbing land and destroying shrines.
Jamil Mukwaya Rutakome, president of the Uganda Herbalists Association and representative to the National Drugs Agency (NDA), noted that the number of registered herbalists has increased and now exceeds 300. He called for a united voice in lobbying for government support and funding.
Rutakome said traditional herbalists and healers had formed an association and had urged the government to provide land for planting valuable tree species used to treat various diseases that are becoming extinct due to the effects of climate change.
Minister of State for Kampala and Capital Region, Kabwe Kyofatgabie, stressed the need to add value to traditional medicines to meet international market standards.
He said herbalists, under the guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology led by Dr. Monica Musenero, would work on improving local herbal remedies.
Kyofatgabie called for traditional healers and herbalists to be united under one umbrella organisation to benefit from government programmes.
The President’s Office, Dr Hillary Emmanuel Musoke, urged the leadership of the new association to bring other associations together.
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