TANZANIA, July 17 -- YOU have probably heard them before: the booming voice from a corner speaker, echoing through the street like a prophet of pain relief and that is “Meno ni hazina, usingoe meno! Meno yanatibika kwa elfu moja tu!” Cue the dramatic music and pass the herbal concoction. All this for just 1,000/-. What a bargain. Or is it?

Let us call it what it is: A public health circus run by unlicensed street healers and quack doctors who seem to have taken over our roadsides and markets. These smooth-talking fraudsters promise everything under the sun from curing toothaches to resurrecting dying dreams. And the most astonishing part? No one seems to be stopping them.

One wonders, actually-who licensed these miracle merc...