Reports of Popobawa attacks rise and fall with the election cycle in Zanzibar, although victims argue Popobawa is apolitical.
Though some writers claim that the popobawa is likely to be real because "Zanzibar's main hospital treated numerous alleged popobawa victims,"[REF] Benjamin Radford interviewed doctors at Zanzibar Medical Group (Zanzibar's main hospital) and none reported ever treating popobawa victims [REF].