Medicine murder in colonial Lesotho

the anatomy of a moral crisis

National Bibliography of Scotland record

1 online resource (xv, 493 pages); 31; illustrations, maps; Includes bibliographical references and index; International African library; Maps Tables, Figure and Graphs Photographs Preface Note on names, orthography and pronunciation Abbreviations INTRODUCTION 1 A defining moment 1 Official and popular reaction 4 Key questions 8 Investigating medicine murder 11 'Ritual murder': the potential for broader study 16 Part I MEDICINE MURDER: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, POLITICAL CONTEXT AND CASE STUDIES CHAPTER 1 Basutoland: 'a very prickly hedgehog' 20 A policy of benign neglect 21 Economic failure and chiefly abuse 30 The Pim Report 38 The Khubelu reforms of 1938 41 The Treasury reforms of 1946 46 Disputes over the succession 51 CASE STUDY ONE The case of the cobbler's head: Morija, 1945 68 'A migratory body' 68 The investigation 72 The preparatory examination and the trial 77 The judgement 83 Discords 89 CHAPTER 2 Medicine murder: belief and incidence 97 Sesotho beliefs in medicine 98 Early evidence of medicine murder 107 The incidence of medicine murder: 'a very startling increase'? 109 CASE STUDY TWO 'The chiefs of today have turned against the people': Koma-Koma, 1948 128 'Something going on in this village' 130 The investigation and the preparatory examination 137 The High Court trial and the judgement 140 Struggles in the Makhabane chieftainship 145 Allegations of police misconduct 147 The failure of appeal 156 CHAPTER 3 Medicine murder: the debates of the late 1940s 161 'This country is … overcast with a terrible cloud' 162 Chiefs, politicians and police 165 The High Commissioner, the chieftainship and the question of; Originally published in print: Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press for the International African Institute, London, 2005