A ‘cure’ for witchcraft that spells an end to lynch mobs
Traditional ‘cleansings’ are protecting elderly Kenyans from lethal accusations of dark magic
Of all the medicine men along the Kenyan coast, none was said to have been a better witch catcher than Tsuma Washe Guro. Kajiwe, to use his magical name, could sniff them out at a hundred yards. Yet it was the quality of his mercy as much as his wizardry that won Kajiwe fame. He cured rather than killed the witches he caught, drenching them in his spirit-exorcising urine.
A quarter of a century after his death, Kenyan officials are hoping to revive Kajiwe’s methods (minus the urine) to end a surge in witch lynchings that has spread terror among the elderly in coastal regions.
A fear of sorcery is common in many African societies, particularly in rural areas, where the deaths of children during unexplained disease epidemics are blamed on witchcraft. In extreme cases, this can manifest itself as mass killings. In 2001, after the deaths of a number of infants from an unknown ailment, the Lugbara people in Congo turned on each other, stoning and beating to death 900 people accused of witchcraft in one month.
The killings on the Kenyan coast, however, have been both more insidious and less visible, taking place over months and years.
Just how many have died remains undocumented. Only one of Kenya’s six coastal counties seems to have anything approaching official documentation, with police in Kilifi calculating that more than 500 lynchings of suspected witches have taken place over the past six years.
It is not just superstition that drives the killings, however. The motivation is often more cynical, with local officials saying that younger people frequently accuse older family members of witchcraft in the hope of inheriting their land or wealth.
“The stumbling block standing between a kid and his dreams of wealth is often his dad,” says Teddy Mwambire, MP for the Ganze constituency in Kilifi. “So to get dad out of the picture, they come up with accusations of witchcraft. If someone is accused of this, they are seen as a threat to the community and the community takes action by lynching the suspects.”
Land-related witch killings on the coast were first reported a decade ago and can partly be attributed to poverty, politics and overpopulation, community elders say.
Kenya’s coast is one of the poorest regions, the result, say members of the local Mijikenda ethnic federation, of decades of political neglect.
Education levels are lower than in many other parts of the country, while there are few jobs to go around the burgeoning number of young people. The Mijikenda say there is less land, too, because much of it has been acquired by the inland Kikuyu, the powerful ethnic group of Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s president.
The competition for subsistence farmland, often the only prospect of acquiring an asset of value, is so intense that a growing number are willing to kill to get hold of it.
Two years ago, Duni Nzahi Mseche, 89, fled his home after his three grandsons demanded that he sell his 12-acre farm. When he refused, they stirred up fellow villagers by accusing him of being a warlock and blaming him for the recent death of a child.
Mr Mseche got wind of the plot and fled to Kaya Godhoma, a refuge built on holy ground to provide sanctuary. He is one of 10 residents there, safe because no one would dare carry out a murder on such a hallowed spot. All have a similar story and, while they regard themselves as little more than prisoners, they are the lucky ones.
“I know between 10 and 20 people who have been killed after being accused of witchcraft,” said Katana Charo, 62, who escaped after hearing his younger brothers were planning to denounce him for witchcraft in order to lay claim to his farm.
“I’ve seen four of their bodies with my own eyes. There was no point going to the police as they don’t do anything, so I had no choice but to come here.”
But the Kaya Godhoma has a more important role than just providing sanctuary. Although it is funded by Mr Mwambire, it is run by a witch doctor, Yembe, who has resurrected the traditions of the legendary Kajiwe to come up with an ingenious way of addressing the problem.
While witches may be feared and detested in Kenya, witch doctors like Yembe, whose real name is Kazungu Karisa, have long played an important role in society as herbalists and the purveyors of charms. MPS often consult them. Murdering witches, Yembe has told locals, is not the traditional Mijikenda way. Just as Kajiwe did before him, he believes those who are accused of witchcraft can be ritually cleansed before being reintegrated into the community.
It takes two hours to perform the ceremony, during which the shavenheaded accused witch or warlock lies on the ground blindfolded. After potions are administered and chickens slaughtered, he or she pledges on oath never to commit witchcraft again.
It usually works, Yembe insists. He has performed the ritual 40 times since 2016. Although Kaya Godhoma’s 10 permanent residents were rejected by their communities, 30 others were allowed to return home safely.
“Most of those whom I cleanse have, of course, never done any witchcraft,” he said. “But they are accepted back and most importantly they are now protected. Those family members involved in plots would never dare touch them now they have been received back by the community.”
Samson Chai, a local chief, said: “These lynchings are not things the government or police can do much about. But the cleansing ceremonies are a traditional cultural solution to the problem. This symbolises a powerful return to our roots and has far more chance of success than anything imposed from the outside.”