FILE | NATION Residents of Voi town recently took to the streets demanding that two suspected withdoctors from Tanzania be deported to their home country after one of them was allegedly found with the private parts of a dead man. They urged police to intensify night patrols to curb more killings.
By DANIEL NYASSY dnyassy@ke.nationmedia.com and GALGALO BOCHA gbocha@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Friday, November 26 2010 at 21:00
In Summary
- Targeted elderly people flee county for fear of attacks to seek refuge in towns like Mombasa and live on the streets
Villagers in Kilifi County are on a killing spree, targeting suspected witches and meting out the ultimate form of justice — death.
The killings, first witnessed two years ago but somehow ebbed, are now on a resurgence in the area.
Three elderly people — two of them a couple — have been killed in the past one week alone in their houses.
The County covers Bahari, Malindi and Magarini constituencies.
At least 10 people suspected to be witches were brutally killed in Kilifi County in the past three months, a police crime analysis report indicates.
The latest such incident occurred last Saturday when three men beheaded Mr Kazungu Mranja of Timboni village in Mjanaheri location after he was accused of engaging in witchcraft.
Police in Malindi have launched a manhunt for the killers.
Last week, a couple, Mzee Mzungu Charo, 70, and his wife Mrs Luvuno Kapombe, 60, were brutally murdered in their house at Pumwani village in Magarini on the same witchcraft suspicions.
In the past two years alone, more than 27 elderly people, including an assistant chief, Mr Albert Mulanda Lughanje of Shomela location, have lost their lives in the hands of armed gangs.
Lack of proof
Flimsy suspicions by the attackers is all they need to take the lives of their victims, without any other proof.
The hapless targets are usually identified through such archaic “signs” such as their “white hair and red eyes”.
“This trend had subsidised but we fear it has crept back. We fought it and thought we had won the war only for it to resurface,” said Gongoni District Officer Patrick ole Ntutu.
The administrator feels the belief in witchcraft is so deeply entrenched in the community that it had become a religion.
“We have worked hard to stop it but it somehow lingers on. It’s like a religion,” he said in an interview recently.
Police have, however, termed the homicide incidents “serious” and promised to combat them by taking action against the perpetrators.
In an interview with the Saturday Nation, Coast Provincial Police Officer Leo Nyongesa expressed confidence that his officers will bring to an end killings of innocent people in the county.
According to the PPO, a crime analysis done in August and September this year indicates that the 10 deaths were recorded at Kilifi and two in Malindi.
“Elderly persons are mostly targeted and police officers will not relent in their quest to bring to book those behind the killings,” Mr Nyongesa said.
But police further suspect that the figure could be higher since some deaths are caused by the victims’ relatives.
During that period urban division recorded four homicide cases closely followed by Kwale and Kisauni with three killings and finally Malindi and Taita divisions reported two and one killings, respectively.
According to Mr Nyongesa close collaboration between his officers and the public under the community policing programme has resulted into improved mitigation of crime outbreaks.
In the past, elders from the area reportedly fled villages to seek refuge in towns such as Mombasa and Malindi and ended up living on the streets.
Understand culture
Magarini MP Mr Amason Kingi, while condemning the loss of lives, criticised the Provincial Administration for the way it is tackling the problem.
“Instead of harassing my people by arbitrarily arresting them and taking them to court, the Provincial Administration should first understand the culture of the people,” Mr Kingi argues.
He suggests that the best way would be to educate the community about the ills of practising witchcraft through public barazas and civic education.
The minister also believes traditional ways of resolving disputes on witchcraft should be applied instead of the secular justice system.
“Elders should take the suspects to an oath administration centre in Kinango. If proved guilty, appropriate action in accordance with tradition, should be taken,” said Mr Kingi in a recent interview on the issue.
He said it was usually double loss when a youth killed an elderly person, who in most cases is his grandparent, on suspicion of witchcraft.
“Apart from the loss the family incurs when the elderly person is killed, the suspected killer is arrested, taken to court and jailed for a long time. In most cases the young man is the bread winner of the family. When he goes to jail, the family suffers two losses,” he said.
Mr Ntutu recently constituted a committee of elders composed of Kaya elder Mzee Charo Menza, Mzee Ravasco Kenga Mweri and Mzee Rodgers Kahindi Chengo to resolve these disputes.
“From January this year, we have handled 20 cases of witchcraft, seven of which have resulted in deaths,” said Mzee Menza.
The trio have been moving from village to village to educate the community of the ills of witchcraft. But it remains to be seen whether their efforts will end the problem.
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