Pius says that at one time, a colleague of his who hailed from Alego took a big loan to build a decent house at his rural home. With the money, the man went home and laid a foundation, bought building materials and hired a lorry to take them to the building site. He then asked for a week’s off to supervise the construction.
But the day he was to return to his workstation, he started complaining of a splitting headache. He was rushed to the hospital but passed on a few minutes after admission. Pius says many could not understand how a man whhale and hearty could just drop dead. Accusing fingers pointed at witchcraft.
Witches in Alego are also sa to target academically promising students.
Caleb Oluoch, a resident of Rongo District in Migori County, says he saw it all as a high school boy in Alego.
"In the mid 90s, there was a student who was unbeaten academically in my school. He sailed through Form One without an incident, but in Form Two, he stated complaining of eye problems. At first, many thought the problem was minor but it got worse as months went by. In Form Three, he could hardly look at a book. He floundered academically and eventually dropped out of school," recalls Caleb.
Placating villagers with gifts is no good and can be the source of pain, not blessings, as Victor Olang’, a resident of Alego Usonga came to learn.
Victor is a bitter man who believes the witches in his village sealed his fate. He says that years back, he had a prestigious job at one of the exclusive hotels in Nairobi. After working for a year, he thought it wise to visit his people back home.
He arrived in style, bedecked with packets of sugar, kangas and money. At home, he visited relatives and neighbours and offered them packets of sugar. Some women got kangas and old men who loved local liquor received cash to quench their thirsts.
"I did this purely out of love and to get the blessings of my people, but sadly, this was not to be. I was sacked soon after returning to work," he discloses.
Victor, who is currently a common villager scraping a living the hard way, blames witches in his village for his sudden downfall. Given a second chance, Victor vows that he would opt to remain in the city and forget about the rural home.
Before I parted ways with Victor during my interview for this story, he tickled me, saying, "If Obama only knew what is taking place in his father’s birthplace, he would forget about fighting global terrorism and come here to fight these village ‘terrorists’ who have made Alego a backwater as other parts of Luo land progress."
