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Over sixty elders in Tharaka Constituency yesterday performed traditional rituals to curse a witch who allegedly distributed metallic boxes containing goat heads and horns to various schools in the county. The boxes are particularly popular with boarding school students who use them as suitcases and to store their personal stuff.
The elders who represented the 32 Tharaka clans performed the rituals at River Gakurume in Tharaka South sub-county.
This came after parents agreed that those behind the barbaric act should be cursed by elders. The rituals are locally known as Gwikia Nduuka, and are performed by clan elders while naked.
The elders arrived at the river at around 4am and removed their cloths before conducting traditional prayers facing Mount Kenya. Here, they burnt Sodom apples and threw dry branches of selected trees.
Burning Sodom apples and throwing of dry branches is believed to be a curse to wrongdoers in society and those who do not ask for forgiveness after betraying the community.
The elders sang against the alleged witch who distributed the boxes a month ago. The shocking incident took place before Chuka/Igambang’ombe MP, Muthomi Njuki began distributing metallic boxes to students joining Form One. It was alleged that the ‘bewitched’ boxes were distributed to Marimanti, Gituri and Mukothima primary schools a week before the MP started his initiative.
The plot was allegedly intended to scare students from receiving similar boxes from the legislator. The MP has declared that he will be vying for the gubernatorial seat in 2017.
The elders said that after conducting the rituals, those who distributed the boxes will be ‘disturbed by bad omens’ such as accidents, deaths or become mad.
“We gave them an ultimatum which ended on Friday last week, but by that time nobody had apologised to the community. We do not care who they might be,” an elder told journalists after the rituals that lasted for hours.
