When Fear Becomes Power in South Sudan

Introduction

Two patterns stand out. In Eastern and Western Equatoria, fear of harmful supernatural power has sometimes turned neighbours, youth groups or customary authorities against alleged witches and rainmakers. Among Nuer communities, prophetic traditions have shaped ideas about peace, legitimate leadership and war, most famously through the continuing political use of the nineteenth-century prophet Ngundeng Bong’s songs and ceremonial rod. Neither phenomenon should be reduced to irrationality. They are embedded in systems of religion, justice and authority, and become especially dangerous when uncertainty, poor services and weak legal protection make accusation easier than investigation.[csrf-southsudan.org]csrf-southsudan.orgConflict Sensitivity Resource Facility…

What the surviving evidence actually shows

Reliable documentation is fragmented. South Sudan became independent only in 2011, while decades of war damaged archives, disrupted research and left many local incidents recorded only through oral testimony, aid reports or short news stories. There is no sound basis for presenting the country as the site of one continuous witch panic, satanic scare or epidemic of mass psychogenic illness.

The evidence instead reveals several overlapping but distinct phenomena:

These categories must not be collapsed into the label “mass hysteria”. Some involve real social conflict and deliberate violence. Others are religious interpretations of experience. Still others may resemble psychological contagion, but lack the medical investigation needed to establish mass psychogenic illness.

When witchcraft fear turns into persecution

Accusations of supernatural harm are among the clearest examples of collective fear producing physical consequences in South Sudan. A 2023 analysis by the Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility described people being beaten, expelled from villages or forced to seek safety in towns and displacement camps after being accused of witchcraft, cursing or other misuse of spiritual power. The report stressed that no reliable national statistics exist, although practitioners and community observers had perceived an increase in some areas.[Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility]csrf-southsudan.orgConflict Sensitivity Resource Facility…

The accusations commonly emerge after an event that is both serious and difficult to explain: an unexpected death, recurring sickness, a crop failure or a prolonged dry season. Suspicion then concentrates on someone whose conduct, social position or family history already makes them vulnerable. Once a public accusation has been voiced, relatives can also be labelled members of a “witch family”, creating stigma that survives long after the original incident. In a Juba displacement camp in 2022, for example, rumours following an unexplained death reportedly focused on residents descended from families previously accused of witchcraft.[Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility]csrf-southsudan.orgConflict Sensitivity Resource Facility…

The danger is not simply that people believe supernatural harm is possible. South Sudanese spiritual roles can also be protective and socially valued. Rainmakers, ritual authorities and other specialists may be expected to defend land, health and fertility. Panic develops when a recognised role is reversed: a person expected to protect the community is suspected of secretly harming it, or an ordinary neighbour is blamed for exercising hidden power.

In Mayom in 2013, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan organised an awareness forum while about 40 people were reportedly imprisoned on witchcraft charges. The event illustrates the uneasy overlap between popular belief, local detention practices and state institutions. Imprisonment may temporarily protect an accused person from a mob, yet it can also validate an allegation that could not be proven through ordinary evidence.[UNMISS]unmiss.unmissions.orgwitchcraft awareness forum held mayomWitchcraft awareness forum held in Mayom28 Aug 2013 — Some 40 people from the town are currently sitting in Mayom prison charged wi…

A particularly stark case reached the High Court in Nimule in 2026. Prosecutors alleged that a group had beaten, tied and burned Atary Denise after claims that women approaching him would collapse and cry out his name. The reported collapses were treated by the attackers as proof of evil power rather than as symptoms requiring independent medical examination. The trial is important because it shows how a cluster of frightening bodily reactions can be absorbed into a witchcraft narrative and then used to justify lethal vigilantism.[Eye Radio]eyeradio.orgEye RadioNine on trial over alleged witchcraft killing in Magwi CountyJune 18, 2026 — 18 Jun 2026 — They claimed that women who approache…Published: June 18, 2026

The rainmaker becomes the scapegoat

The most clearly documented recurring scare concerns rainmaking in Eastern Equatoria. In communities where ritual specialists are believed to influence rainfall, drought can create an impossible expectation: the rainmaker must produce rain during precisely the conditions in which crops, livestock and livelihoods are already under extreme pressure.

When rain does not come, a specialist may be accused not merely of failure but of deliberately blocking it. This converts a climatic and economic crisis into a conflict with an identifiable human culprit. The explanation can feel actionable. Rainfall cannot be confronted, but a rainmaker can be threatened, expelled or killed.

The Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility recorded the killing of a 43-year-old rainmaker in Lafon County in July 2021 and the lynching of another in Ikotos County in September 2022. Eye Radio reported in 2023 that four ritual specialists had been killed over three years in drought-hit Eastern Equatoria. In another case, Marcelo Ogwana, a 70-year-old man in Torit County suspected of averting rain, died from injuries after a mob attack.[csrf-southsudan.org]csrf-southsudan.orgConflict Sensitivity Resource Facility…

The pattern continued to raise legal concerns. In 2024, eleven suspects accused of burying an alleged rainmaker alive were reportedly released after the payment of 21 cattle. The case exposed a difficult tension between customary settlement, compensation and the statutory treatment of homicide. A settlement may reduce immediate inter-family conflict, but it can also appear to place a negotiable price on violence produced by an unverified supernatural allegation.[Eye Radio]eyeradio.orgEye Radio EES: 11 men accused in murder of 'rainmaker' freed afterEye Radio EES: 11 men accused in murder of 'rainmaker' freed after

It would be misleading to portray these incidents as evidence of a uniform national belief. Rainmaking traditions differ between communities, and many South Sudanese—including officials, religious leaders and journalists—openly reject the claim that a ritual specialist can manufacture or stop rainfall. What drives the panic is the combination of belief with severe material stress: hunger, failed harvests, displacement, flooding in one area and drought in another, plus limited access to reliable meteorological information and formal justice.

Prophecy at the centre of politics

South Sudan’s prophetic traditions are not equivalent to witch panics. They concern recognised religious authorities whose teachings can restrain violence as well as encourage mobilisation. The most influential example is Ngundeng Bong, a Nuer prophet whose remembered songs and sacred objects remain part of political argument more than a century after his death.

Ngundeng emerged during the nineteenth century after behaviour initially interpreted as madness came to be understood as seizure by a divinity. He acquired a wide following and preached against feuding and destructive raiding. His ceremonial centre attracted Nuer, Dinka, Anuak and other visitors, suggesting an authority that could cross community boundaries.[Rift Valley Institute]riftvalley.netRift Valley Institute The fate of Ngungdeng’s dang – Rift Valley InstituteRift Valley Institute The fate of Ngungdeng’s dang – Rift Valley Institute

British colonial officials nevertheless regarded Nuer prophets as potential organisers of resistance. After Ngundeng’s son Guek was killed by British forces in 1929, inherited ritual objects were confiscated. One of them, a wooden and metal ceremonial rod known as the dang, was returned to South Sudan in 2009 and received in Juba by Riek Machar, then vice-president. It later disappeared from public view as political relations deteriorated and civil war began in 2013.[Rift Valley Institute]riftvalley.netRift Valley Institute The fate of Ngungdeng’s dang – Rift Valley InstituteRift Valley Institute The fate of Ngungdeng’s dang – Rift Valley Institute

The rod matters because prophecy has been attached to present-day leadership. Some supporters have interpreted Ngundeng’s remembered words as forecasting a future Nuer leader and have associated that figure with Machar. Yet prophetic songs do not function like fixed written manifestos. Their meanings are disputed, reshaped by changing circumstances and sometimes applied retrospectively. Recent reporting has found that fighters and political supporters still invoke Ngundeng, while historians caution that the prophecies leave ample room for competing readings.[AP News]apnews.comThe rivalry between Kiir and Machar, rooted in ethnic divisions, sparked a civil war in 2013 that killed an estimated 400,000 people. Alt…

Research on Nuer prophets also challenges the assumption that prophecy simply fuels ethnic war. Prophets have judged whether violence is morally legitimate, mediated disputes and criticised both state forces and armed communities. Oral histories collected among displaced people in Bentiu show prophecy being used to explain suffering, the causes of war and the failures of political authority. In this sense, prophetic memory is a language of political analysis as well as belief.[csrf-southsudan.org]csrf-southsudan.orgConflict Sensitivity Resource Facility…

The danger arises when an ambiguous religious tradition is presented as proof that one leader is destined to rule. Destiny can make compromise appear like betrayal and political defeat seem merely temporary. It can also allow elites or armed actors to place their ambitions inside a sacred historical story. But labelling the entire prophetic tradition a “cult” would erase its peace-making, ethical and communal roles.

Collapses, possession and the problem with “mass hysteria”

South Sudan has sometimes been included in discussions of collective fainting, possession and culturally shaped responses to trauma. A published clinical teaching case describes mass fainting spells among Murle people in Gumuruk, Jonglei, in a setting marked by prolonged conflict and insecurity. Such accounts suggest that overwhelming distress may sometimes be expressed physically and collectively rather than through the language of anxiety or post-traumatic stress.[Springer]link.springer.comCulturally Informed Manifestations of TraumaCulturally Informed Manifestations of Trauma

Even so, public claims about mysterious collapses require caution. A diagnosis of mass psychogenic illness should be made only after plausible infectious, neurological, toxic and environmental causes have been investigated. Symptoms caused or intensified by psychological contagion are real; “psychogenic” does not mean invented. But where medical systems are strained and reporting is incomplete, it is often impossible to know whether an apparent cluster resulted from disease, malnutrition, trauma, suggestion, poisoning or a combination of factors.

The killing of Atary Denise shows why careless interpretation is dangerous. Women’s reported collapses were not treated as an unresolved health event but as direct evidence against a named individual. Once that explanation circulated within the group, the allegation acquired the force of collective testimony. The central issue is therefore not whether the women were pretending—they may have been genuinely distressed—but how bodily symptoms became a licence to punish someone else.[Eye Radio]eyeradio.orgEye RadioNine on trial over alleged witchcraft killing in Magwi CountyJune 18, 2026 — 18 Jun 2026 — They claimed that women who approache…Published: June 18, 2026

Spirit possession and evangelical narratives also occupy a different category from psychogenic illness. Anthropological research in rural South Sudan has examined accounts of demonic underwater kingdoms, spiritually generated wealth and redemption through Christianity. Such narratives can express fears about political corruption, unexplained enrichment, globalisation and the moral danger of money. Researchers warn against reducing them to primitive error: believers may understand spiritual and material causation as inseparable, while similar demon narratives circulate through international evangelical networks.[LSE Blogs]blogs.lse.ac.ukLSE Blogs An evangelical biography of evil and redemption in rural South SudanLSE Blogs An evangelical biography of evil and redemption in rural South Sudan

Why these fears spread

The episodes differ, but several recurring pressures help explain why an accusation or prophecy can gather momentum.

Uncertainty invites a personal explanation. Drought, illness and sudden death are difficult to endure when their causes cannot be established. Blaming an intentional agent turns random suffering into a morally ordered event: someone did this, and the community can respond.

Conflict weakens trusted investigation. Years of warfare have damaged health services, policing, courts and local administration. Where institutions cannot reliably diagnose disease or adjudicate accusations, rumour and informal authority fill the gap.

Social authority is distributed. Chiefs, elders, churches, youth age-sets, prophets and state officials may all exercise different forms of power. An accusation can move between these systems, gaining credibility without ever being tested by a single evidential standard. Most South Sudanese continue to rely heavily on customary institutions for everyday disputes, while statutory courts remain unevenly accessible.[ICTJ]ictj.orgSome Level of PeaceSome Level of Peace

Scares express material grievances. Anthropologist Joshua Craze argues that witchcraft accusations in Western Equatoria can translate experiences of political predation and economic insecurity into intimate stories about neighbours and relatives. This gives uncertainty a comprehensible human face, but it can redirect anger away from the institutions and armed actors producing the insecurity.[haujournal.org]haujournal.orgOpen source on haujournal.org.

Accusations reproduce themselves. Once a family is labelled, later deaths or illnesses may be interpreted through that reputation. Flight can then be taken as evidence of guilt rather than fear. In displacement settings, old suspicions may travel with the displaced population and expose victims to renewed threats.[Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility]csrf-southsudan.orgConflict Sensitivity Resource Facility…

Courts, churches and authorities face a difficult task

South Sudan’s plural legal system makes supernatural accusations especially hard to manage. Customary courts are often more accessible than statutory courts and can provide locally legitimate settlements. They have also heard cases involving witchcraft, oaths and supernatural sanctions, even though allegations of invisible harm are inherently difficult to prove. Research on local justice has found practices in which an oath is expected to bring sickness or misfortune upon a liar, demonstrating that spiritual causation can form part of the procedure rather than merely the allegation.[Brill]brill.comarticle p295 4.xmlarticle p295 4.xml

Formal authorities face two opposite risks. Ignoring community fears can make the state appear indifferent and leave accused people exposed to mobs. Arresting people for supposed witchcraft, however, can legitimise claims that lack testable evidence. The more defensible response is to investigate concrete offences—assault, murder, threats, fraud or poisoning—while protecting the accused and avoiding official endorsement of supernatural guilt.

Community engagement is equally important. Simply mocking belief is unlikely to reduce danger and may alienate the people whose cooperation is needed. Conflict-sensitivity specialists recommend working with local leaders, churches, youth organisations and justice mechanisms to separate spiritual reconciliation from physical punishment. Non-violent rites or mediation may help a community move beyond an accusation, provided they do not force a supposed confession or confirm hereditary guilt.[Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility]csrf-southsudan.orgConflict Sensitivity Resource Facility…

Journalists also shape the outcome. Reporting that repeats “witch” or “evil spirit” as an established identity can harden suspicion. Better reporting identifies the claim as an allegation, asks whether medical or forensic examinations occurred, follows the treatment of the accused and distinguishes unexplained symptoms from evidence of wrongdoing.

What South Sudan’s cases tell us

South Sudan’s most important collective-belief episodes are not curiosities on the margins of its history. They reveal how people seek explanations when drought, disease, war and political power feel uncontrollable. Witchcraft allegations make misfortune personal. Rainmaker panics turn climate stress into punishment. Prophecy connects present leaders to sacred history. Possession and demonic narratives give moral form to trauma, inequality and sudden wealth.

The same beliefs can produce very different outcomes. A prophet may restrain revenge or sanctify mobilisation. A cleansing ceremony may end a dispute or reinforce an accusation. A customary settlement may restore peace or conceal a killing. The decisive question is therefore not whether South Sudanese people “believe in the supernatural”, but who gains authority from a particular explanation, what evidence is permitted to challenge it and whether the response protects or endangers human life.

The clearest historical lesson is that collective fear becomes most harmful when uncertainty is converted into certainty about a scapegoat. South Sudan’s documented cases show the need to take people’s experiences seriously without treating rumour as proof, spiritual difference as criminality or unexplained illness as permission for violence.

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Further Reading

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Endnotes

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Additional References

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