Misplaced faith in charms

By Antony Gitonga

Many people might laugh off the power of magical charms, but not a certain elderly woman in Kisii.

She was recently arrested at the biggest prison in the country trying to sneak in a charm that she believed would free her son who is serving a life sentence.

Armed with a bar soap, the woman had arrived at the Naivasha GK Prison from Kisii confident that it was only a matter of time before the son joined her at home.

Accompanied by some relatives, the smartly dressed woman carrying what appeared to be a heavy handbag had gone to visit her son, Festus Mbamba Obino, when the truth was exposed.

According to a warder in the prison, the woman had hidden the juju paraphernalia inside a bar soap.

"There were some queer objects tucked inside the soap. They looked like roots and dry insects," said the prison officer. Officers at the main gate were shocked to find the stuff and briefly held the woman for questioning.

Confirming the incident, the officer in charge of the prison, Patrick Mwenda, said the woman admitted to inserting the objects in the bar of soap. He said the woman believed that if swallowed, the potion would help the son win an appeal case at the Court of Appeal.

"The woman was confident that if her son chewed the roots when the appeal case started, he would emerge victorious," says one of the wardens.

According to Mwenda, the inmate is in jail serving a life sentence after he was convicted two years ago by a Kisii court for robbery with violence.

The woman was later set free as the warders stepped up body searches at the main gate.