Witchdoctor plays a trick on villagers

By Nicholas Anyuor

The prospect of instant justice was a compelling attraction, and villagers flocked to the Lwala, Nyakite District venue where a bull thief was expected to get his just deserts.

On hand to deliver justice was a witchdoctor who promised that the thief would die in broad daylight as the owner watched.

It all started after Joel’s bull was stolen by an unknown person. After looking for it for almost a month without finding it, someone told him that in the nearby Ndhiwa District, there was a famous witchdoctor who was capable of ensuring that the animal was brought back or the thief died.

When Joel visited the witchdoctor, he told him that the thief was a fellow villager and that he would use his charms to ensure the thief admitted the theft or he would die.

He was advised to gather all the villagers the following day to witness the wonder. The witchdoctor however wanted to be paid promptly.

Joel paid him Sh20,000 although he thought that his bull was worth only Sh15,000.

When the witchdoctor came to the village the following day, he found villagers had already gathered eager to see the thief who has been bothering them.

The witchdoctor first ordered all the youths present to jump over a concoction tied in a strip of bull skin four times. The thief among them would collapse and die, he said.

As the youths complied, the witchdoctor spoke in tongues and the village grew tense. No one collapsed though.

Secondly, the youths were made to lick and swallow ash. This also failed to produce results.

Bury a thief

The witchdoctor said that he still had one trick up his sleeve that was guaranteed to kill the thief. When people heard this was the last chance, they were convinced that finally, one of them was going to die. They held their breaths waiting to see which home would bury a thief.

The witchdoctor took a cockerel and slaughtered it. He cut it into two and inserted a coin in its beak.

"Wait for an hour," he said.

"The moment the coin gets out of the beak, the thief will die."

He then stripped naked, only remaining in his underwear.

He spoke in tongues and everyone was fearful and thought the village was in danger.

However, before the one hour was up, the witchdoctor had dressed up again and made some phone calls. He then packed his things and told everyone to remain seated as they waited to see who would die.

He said he was going to plant another charm at the gate to force the coin to come out of the cockerel’s beak faster so that the thief might die. But as he walked towards the gate, a boda boda cyclist arrived and within no time the witchdoctor was motoring away at high speed. Thereafter his phone remained switched off and Joel could not reach him.

The coin never came out of the beak and no thief has died to date.