Ugandan police have arrested a man who was trying to smuggle a human head across the border from Kenya

BBC News:

The Ugandan national was caught carrying a severed male head in a paper bag in the border town of Busia between Kenya and Uganda on Wednesday morning.

Police say the man claims he was taking it to a regular customer in Uganda.

There is a lucrative trade in body parts in Africa, as some traditional witchdoctors believe they make their charms and remedies more powerful.

Local journalist Martin Egesa in Busia, who saw the severed head, told the BBC News website that the smuggler said he would get 10,000 for it but he did not specify the currency.

This amount in Kenyan shillings is $135 and in Uganda shillings it is just over $5.

He said the man had initially run away from police when they had asked to look in his bag, but had stopped when he was warned that he would be shot.

Belief in witchcraft is common across Africa and witchdoctors or traditional healers are consulted for all sorts of help from protection in war to curing a disease or finding a husband.

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