Sorcery suspects meet a violent end

By Vitalis Kimutai

The South Rift region is fast becoming a dangerous place for people suspected of practising witchcraft.

In the past month, a number of suspects have been rounded up in Bomet District and either handed over to the police if lucky or stoned to death

Many others have been forced to either denounce their dark ways or risk death.

At least 11 suspects are being sought by residents of Bomet for allegedly being behind a spate of misfortunes, deaths and strange diseases suffered by individuals and families.

Two weeks ago, irate members of the public torched six houses at Siongiroi village in the district belonging to a family suspected of involvement in witchcraft.

The mob descended on the homestead, threw out the owners and torched the houses in broad daylight.

This was preceded by the killing of two people at Kapkoros and Kiromwok villages in Bomet central.

Charles Kiprono Ngetich, a father of two, was attacked by his neighbours after one of his brothers denounced him following a long running family dispute.

Police officers arrived an hour too late and only took the body to the mortuary.

A week before, an elderly man, Mathew Kipkosgei Chesengeny, was lynched at Kapkoros Trading Centre by a mob that also broke into his residential house and torched it.

Strange paraphernalia was found in a pot in the old man’s house that included male and female sexual organs.

Regular and Administration Police officers dispatched to the area were reduced to bystanders when they arrived at the scene to find the old man’s body engulfed in a fierce fire.

The witch-hunts have alarmed the police chiefs, provincial administrators and the clergy.

District Commissioner Shadrack Mwadime says stoning and lynching of suspects should be discouraged as innocent people might lose their lives.

"Some people are set up by those they have disagreed with over some issues?" he says.

"The residents who claim to be after the so called witches and wizards should know that they have no right to take other people’s lives. They should report suspects to the police and administrators for action," Mwadime adds.

Mid last year, houses belonging to five widows at Kichutmo village in Longisa division, suspected to have caused the mysterious deaths of fellow villagers and their spouses, were torched by members of the public.

Shocking events

In a shocking incident four years ago, a man draped dead snakes, lizards and the bloody head of a dead dog on his brother-in-law’s door.

This followed a family dispute between the suspect and his sister.

According to a village elder, Andrew Kosgei, the suspect, who was arrested and charged with pretending to practice witchcraft, apparently wanted to intimidate his sister for allegedly barring him from selling cattle that had been paid as dowry for one of their sisters.

The incident, which occurred at Chepngaina village in Bomet Township, is still the talk of the region.

Police recently saved a suspected wizard, Phillip Chumo alias Tumbo from a mob baying for his blood at Kapkoros village after 23 snakes, suspected to have been used for witchcraft, were found in his compound.

"After the domesticated snakes were discovered in the compound and killed by members of the public, Tumbo went underground. When he resurfaced a week later, locals descended on him," a neighbour recalls.

Swift action by the police saved the day when they spirited the man away but not before the mob smashed the windscreen of their vehicle.

List of suspects

Tumbo was charged before Bomet Senior Resident Magistrate Timothy Okello for being in possession of charms and he is currently out on a Sh10,000 bail.

He is also said to have given the police a list of five people he claimed were involved in witchcraft with him. A similar list is said to be in the hands of the villagers who are hunting down the culprits.

Traditionally witchcraft was rare among the Kipsigis, and consequently the recent spate of attacks in Bomet have left many perplexed.

"In the past, few people in the community engaged in the practice. It was mostly women who passed it down to their daughters," says Mzee Richard Kirinyet.

The advent of education saw the tradition discarded as archaic and diabolical. Many are therefore surprised that is making a comeback.

 

 

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