The curious case of missing manhood: How a rumour became a foreign weapon

On 28 October 2024, readers of Mali’s Bamada.net were treated to a truly bizarre headline: reports that men in the Central African Republic (CAR) were losing their manhood — literally.

The strange phenomenon, known clinically as Koro or Genital Retraction Syndrome, is a well-documented psychosocial condition. But in parts of Africa, it takes on a distinct and disturbing form: ‘penis theft’.

The story is always the same: a man claims his penis has disappeared or shrunk after a handshake or a brush with a stranger — typically a man from another ethnic group or African country.

Such rumours echo global fears of organ theft and have periodically resurfaced across West and Central Africa, fuelling public panic — and sometimes, tragically, mob violence. In 2014, one such case in Burkina Faso ended in a deadly lynching.

In the CAR, reports of so-called ‘penis theft’ resurged in August 2024 targeting aid workers. The CAR government’s spokesperson Maxime Balalou then publicly debunked the claims on 3 September, after a spike in cases led to attacks and lynchings in Bangui and Bambari.

Enter conspiracy theory

Yet, Mali’s Bamada.net twisted the rumour even further when accusing a French diplomat in the CAR of having orchestrated the ‘thefts’. The diplomat was allegedly acting on behalf of French President Emmanuel Macron and the French state to restore ‘male virility’ and combat France’s demographic decline.

While such disinformation-laden rumours bear the hallmarks of ‘hahaganda’, their manipulative triggers are much more serious than just ridicule and dismissal. In fact, the story of ‘penis theft’ invokes old colonial clichés of African hyper-virility while tapping into Europe’s current anxieties: shrinking populations, a crisis of masculinity, and declining sexual activity. It even cited a French survey to create a veneer of credibility.

Within a few days of its publication, French and Central African media debunked the article’s claims and revealed how an old African belief — circulating for decades — had likely been repurposed as a Moscow-led anti-Western manipulation.

France 24 Observers pointed out that Bamada.net had already been identified by the IRSEM, the strategic research institute of the French Ministry of Armed Forces, as a site busily relaying pro-Kremlin narratives. Other social media users also noted the article’s content had been promoted by paid Meta advertisements.

Rigging myths for information warfare

Anthropologist Julien Bonhomme pointed out that the shift in the rumour’s narrative — now incorporating anti-Western rhetoric and implicating French involvement for the first time — mirrored similar Russia-linked narratives. In short, an ancient myth — once the stuff of whispered gossip — has been rigged up into the heavy machinery of modern information warfare.

This shows how deeply ingrained myths, anxieties and fears can be exploited for manipulation and political gain. In a world where disinformation or manipulated news travels faster than facts, even the most intimate fears can be weaponised. And when narratives tap into deep-rooted anxieties about masculinity, race, and power, there is no telling what might go missing next…

Don’t be deceived.