Vengeful man pays dearly for his sins

By Anthony Ngira

An elderly man got a sound beating after he was caught naked at midnight relieving himself at his son-in-law’s doorstep in what area residents believe to have been an act of witchcraft.

The incident took place at a village in Kanduyi, Bungoma District two weeks ago. The widely respected man thought to be in his early 60s, is said to have fallen out with his son-in-law who operates a retail shop in Bungoma town after he was denied access to a piece of land on the outskirts of the town.

This enraged him because he had hoped that Juma, the in-law, would allow him to till the one-acre piece of land to provide for his large family of two wives and 11 children.

It is believed that Juma turned down the man, identified only as Wanjala, because he had previously insulted and threatened him at his shop for declining to give him goods on credit. That’s when Wanjala reportedly sought help from a witchdoctor in Bungoma town. He was provided with paraphernalia that he was instructed to use while naked, on a night lit by a full moon.

Shot up

The witchcraft, whose purpose was to cause the collapse of Juma’s business and family, was to be mixed with fresh human dung and deposited on his doorstep.

But as Wanjala squatted to do as instructed, someone shouted at him from a footpath that connects the homesteads to the main road. Panicking, he shot up and dashed into a thicket. The person who had spotted him happened to be a neighbour returning from a trip to Nairobi.

He continued to shout while approaching the thicket, rousing the neighbourhood.

The place was suddenly lit with torches. "I have seen a naked person relieving himself at that doorstep," said the shocked neighbour.

Despite his old age, Wanjala was frog marched to his in-law’s homestead where he was forced to explain the meaning of the paraphernalia in the compound. At first, the defiant man demanded to be treated with respect.

But this changed when kicks and punches rained on his aged body.

He revealed all that had transpired much to the shock of those present.