Posts Tagged ‘kenya’

Posted on June 17, 2009 - by Andrew

Witchcraft blamed for poverty on the Kenyan Coast

Speaking at the Kenya Investment Authority strategy meeting the Provincial Commissioner Ernest Munyi blamed the lack of investment on witchcraft killings.

The Commissioner highlighted the problem of the murder of elderly people suspected of practising witchcraft as sending bad signals which scared investors away.

Charities have reported that the killing of elderly people in Kenya is sometimes an economic crime. Families are unable to support their elderly dependants and adopt excuses to facilitate their murder.

According to Munyi more than 900,000 people in the Coast province face starvation despite a flourishing touristic sector.  The Kenyan government has invested in services to de-silt local water supplies but hundreds of thousands still struggle for clean water.

In Pure Spirit

How much of a serious problem is this for Kenya? Do you the Commissioner was blaming the locals and their backwards way for the lack of successful investment in the region?

Posted on May 12, 2009 - by Andrew

Stripping a witchdoctor of his power

The Kenyan Standard carries photographs of an alleged witchdoctor, Mr Chengo Dingo, being stripped of his powers.

Kanamai residents in the Kilifi District accused Mr Dingo of destroying marriages and wrecking businesses. In response the locals hired the servers of two ’senior’ withdoctors; Safari Mohamed and Omar Mohamed to render Dingo powerless.

The witchdoctor was shaved, painted, made to straddle the more senior Mohamed and tehn carried around the village. He was declared free of evil powers.

The stripping of the witchdoctor’s power comes after a spate of witch and witchdoctor incidents in Kenya. Recently in South Africa a Transkei woman was shot and killed after being accused of witchcraft.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think of the ritual used to strip Dingo of his powers? Would it work? Did Mr Dingo ever have any witchdoctor powers in the first place?

Posted on May 6, 2009 - by Andrew

Nine on trial for witchcraft

Nine women stand accused of witchcraft and face criminal charges in a court in Kenya.

The women from Kiagoro in the Kisii District of Kenya have been accused of intent to harm and witchcraft knowledge. It is claimed that they cast a spell on a local boy, which struck him dumb and forced him to walk from house to house for an entire night in April.

The nine women nearly escaped a lynch mob who set after them seeking just for the 11 year old boy.

The Kenyan magistrate granted each bail at Sh30,000.

The East Standard reports that this case follows a wake of recent attacks in the region where women have been lynched by villages accusing them of witchcraft.

In Pure Spirit

Should we worry that Kenyan villages take witchcraft as seriously as this? What would be worse; trying to impose western cultural values or doing nothing to stop the lynching?

Posted on April 6, 2009 - by Andrew

Witch teacher blamed for exam failure

In Kenya, students of the Kakamega blamed surprisingly bad exam marks on a local teacher who, it is claimed, had been engaged in witchcraft.

Girls from Form Three and Form Four stated that personal effects had been taken by the teacher to local magicians in order to be cleansed. The teacher is said to have been liaising with magicians over the term period in order to help boost the student’s academic abilities.

One student said, “We work hard, but perform very badly in national examinations”.

The Standard, who broke the story, were unable to get official comment from the school where the headmaster has also been accused of nepotism.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Is a teacher within their rights to try and use magic in order to influence their students’ abilities and success?

Are the school girls trying to avoid blame for their poor performance by pointing a finger at their teacher?

Posted on February 2, 2009 - by Andrew

Man chops his aunt’s hand off after claims of witchcraft

Digirikani resident Kwekwe Tayari is receiving treatment in the Coast Provincial General Hospital after her nephew and lodger severed her hand with a type of machete known as a panga.

Tayari’s nephew had previously threatened violence, blaming his poor health on her witchcraft. On Saturday he attacked her and her son, Ramadhan Tayari, who attempted to rescue her before fleeing the scene.

Mombasa police have launched a manhunt.

The belief in black magic and witchcraft is still prevalent in Kenya. Poor health, disease and insantiy are commonly blamed on local women.

Digirikani is a district of coastal Mwakirunge and has been suffering chronic food shortages since January.

In Pure Spirit

These stories are tragic. It seems far from unlikely that the food shortage or poor sanitary conditions rather than witchcraft are responsible for the man’s poor health. Rather than being an evil witch, Tayari in fact kept her nephew as a lodger despite his threats.

Posted on January 25, 2009 - by Andrew

Kenyan pop-star Nyota Ndogo hunted by witchdoctor assassins

The popular Kenyan singer Nyota Ndogo is reported to have gone into hiding after reports that witches and witchdoctors had been approached to kill her.

According to Ndogo she received a call from a man who identified himself as a witch and who had been asked to trace and kill her. The witch, however, refused the contract as he saw no evil in the singer.

Ndogo told Kenyan newspaper The Standard, “I was so shocked. Somebody called me saying that he had been ordered to kill me but could not trace a good reason to do so as, according to his findings, I had not wronged anyone. He asked to meet me at my residence in secrecy to deliver the full message.”

Police in Mombasa are now investigating the incident.

A school drop-out, Nyora Ndogo has now released three albums and won Best Female Singer in the Kisima Awards n 2005.

In Pure Spirit

How would you react if someone approached  you, explained they were a witch and although they had refused to kill you that they were sure others would accept the contract? Really scary stuff!