Tanzania's first elected albino MP

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2021

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

How opposition politician Salum Barwany overcame discrimination and fear to become the first albino elected to office in Tanzania in 2010. Albinism is a genetic condition caused by a lack of the pigment Melanin, which affects the colour of the skin, hair and eyes. Though rare it is more common in parts of Africa, and particularly in Tanzania. There, albinos have long faced social stigma but in recent years many have been brutally murdered. The killings are carried out to harvest their body parts for witchdoctors who claim they can be used in magic potions to bestow wealth. Salum Barwany MP talks about growing up with albinism and his struggle to change attitudes. This episode is produced by Alex Last and Esther Namuhisa

Photo: Tanzania's first elected albino lawmaker Salum Khalfan Barwany gets a hug from a supporter as he walks through the town market in Lindi, just days after winning office in 2010. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
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0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:40.0	Hello and welcome to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Alex Last with more first-hand accounts of events that shaped our world.
0:48.8	And today we go back to 2010 when amid discrimination and attacks the first person with albinism
0:56.0	was elected as an MP in Tanzania.
1:01.3	I believed in the ability to lead. My speeches drew a large following. I wanted to go further into the legislature where I believe true changes can be made. I wanted to
1:14.3	see people with disabilities get their rights.
1:16.9	Salumba Wani is a member of parliament for the coastal town of Lindy in
1:20.8	southern Tanzania and he belongs to the opposition party the Civic
1:24.6	United Front but in 2010 he made history when he became the first albino to be
1:30.7	elected to office in Africa.
1:33.0	So for me to be a leader,
1:36.0	it gave people with albinism trust that not only can they get a job in the office,
1:42.0	but they can also be leaders.
1:44.2	Our difference in color does not deny us the right to be leaders.
1:47.9	Albinism is a genetic condition caused by someone having low or non-existent levels of melanin, the pigment that colours the skin,
1:55.9	the hair and the eyes.
1:57.6	As a result, albinos have very pale skin and fair, often white hair.
	...

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