I like to think of myself as a rational, analytical person. You know, someone who is logical. Which is why I have never believed in witchcraft, black magic, wizardly, ghosts, juju, kamuti, Mombasa jini and UFOs. Of course, there are times when my unfaltering non-belief of 'outside forces' and things supernatural, like all beliefs, has been tested. Like when I was 11 years old and staying at my family's dark, uninhabited house in shags (rural area). I was lying on the bed peacefully thinking about whatever it is 11 year olds think about, when my sister - all covered in a white sheet - crept up on me. Convinced that I was seeing a ghost, I froze in fear. That is, until i heard my sister's donkey laugh. I blame my reaction on that occasion on a combination of watching too many horror movies and a high imagination. Not to mention I was only a child.
As I was saying, you will have to show me some concrete evidence to sell me on the idea that juju works, or as my Cameroonian friend was trying to convince me with a straight face the other day, mermaids exist. But something strange happened in the not-so-recent past that made me think twice about this whole thing. I was living off Thika Road at the time and worked on Waiyaki Way (independence has a price, my friend!). Anyway, going home every evening was well, a bitch. Anyone who lives or works on Thika Road can testify that traffic is the worst in that part of the city. On the evening in question, I decided to hang around my aunt's place of business in town, and wait for traffic to ease before jumping onto a matatu and heading on home. My aunt lives on Thika Road so I had company. This was about 9.00 - 9.30 in the p.m. and it was clear that my plan to 'wait out' the traffic had not worked as there were still quite a number of vehicles on Muranga Road (for the uninitiated and the babis, Murang'a Road is that road that joins Thika Road at the Muthaiga Roundabout).
We went past the cemetery by Forest Road/Murang'a Road roundabout without incidence. Everything was as it should be: genge was blaring from the matatu's speakers, the tout was as rude as they come, and passengers were shouting over the music into their cellphones. Just before we got to the bottom of the dip of the road, there was a loud thud in front of the vehicle followed by the screeching of brakes and the feeling that someone heavy had pushed me from the back. Our driver had hit something in front; and the car behind us, another matatu, had rammed straight into the matatu I was in. The driver behind the matatu that had hit ours was also not able to hit his brakes fast enough. As it were, neither machines nor humans were seriously injured. I was just about to on my aunt, when one of the passengers shouted "Ngai! Ni mbwa imegongwa?!" On looking ahead, I noticed a white dog moving away from the outer lane where our matatu had stopped and walking drunkenly smack into the middle of the busy traffic. The cause of the accident? A dog! Somehow, the dog managed to dodge one or two cars but then a lorry drove right into the silly canine, leaving it frozen on its back with its legs pointing towards heaven. By this time, all the passengers had gotten out of both matatus to watch the drama unfold, the accident forgotten temporarily. "Imekufa?", a rhetorical question for the dog was clearly dead. Or so we thought. Five minutes did not go by before the dog got up and defiantly walked across the road to the petrol station. A collective breath was held. There was no trace of blood whatsoever; the dog's fur remained white. The dog continued its deranged activity: it walked from the petrol station to our side of the road and back, and went on with this back and forth, back and forth business , and then finally disappeared into the bushes just before 'utumishi kwa wote' arrived. Thankfully, there was no other accident although there were a couple of near-misses. This is one of those experiences that I cannot forget. Was this just a simple case of a crazy dog suffering from mad-dog disease or was it a ghost/strange force looking for blood? I can't help but wonder, especially as this place where it all happened is both a black spot where many accidents have been known to happen, and also near a cemetery.
Speaking of which, my friend from Cameroon (of the mermaids legacy) recently entertained me with tales of witchcraft and juju in her country. Apparently people in her country strongly believe in juju; and different regions practice different forms of juju. In her region, it is believed that thunder can be used for evil purposes. So that a relative jealous of my friend's Masters degree may 'send' thunder to harm her. But my friend only needs to click her fingers over her head when she sees the thunder and declare 'back to sender!' to protect herself from the intended harm. Not wishing to be defeated, our Tanzanian colleague told us how politicians in Tanzania include a visit to the 'mganga' in their campaign strategy.
But let us not go too far from home. Was it not just last year when the dailies carried a story about the lengths that Kenyan women are going to in order to get men or keep their unfaithful men at home?!
Incidentally, did you know witchcraft is illegal in Kenya? The Witchcraft Act criminalises witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment and the possession of charms. Clearly, this law is not being enforced as signs advertising the services of 'waganga' all the way from Tanzania are unashamedly posted in the streets of Nairobi and Mombasa. But of course, as things go in Kenya, wanainchi have been known to take matters into their own hands and play judge, jury and executioner as recently happened when a group of people suspected to be practicing witchcraft were lynched to death in Kisii and burnt to death in Pokot.
Truth is stranger than fiction, I always say.
As I was saying, you will have to show me some concrete evidence to sell me on the idea that juju works, or as my Cameroonian friend was trying to convince me with a straight face the other day, mermaids exist. But something strange happened in the not-so-recent past that made me think twice about this whole thing. I was living off Thika Road at the time and worked on Waiyaki Way (independence has a price, my friend!). Anyway, going home every evening was well, a bitch. Anyone who lives or works on Thika Road can testify that traffic is the worst in that part of the city. On the evening in question, I decided to hang around my aunt's place of business in town, and wait for traffic to ease before jumping onto a matatu and heading on home. My aunt lives on Thika Road so I had company. This was about 9.00 - 9.30 in the p.m. and it was clear that my plan to 'wait out' the traffic had not worked as there were still quite a number of vehicles on Muranga Road (for the uninitiated and the babis, Murang'a Road is that road that joins Thika Road at the Muthaiga Roundabout).
We went past the cemetery by Forest Road/Murang'a Road roundabout without incidence. Everything was as it should be: genge was blaring from the matatu's speakers, the tout was as rude as they come, and passengers were shouting over the music into their cellphones. Just before we got to the bottom of the dip of the road, there was a loud thud in front of the vehicle followed by the screeching of brakes and the feeling that someone heavy had pushed me from the back. Our driver had hit something in front; and the car behind us, another matatu, had rammed straight into the matatu I was in. The driver behind the matatu that had hit ours was also not able to hit his brakes fast enough. As it were, neither machines nor humans were seriously injured. I was just about to on my aunt, when one of the passengers shouted "Ngai! Ni mbwa imegongwa?!" On looking ahead, I noticed a white dog moving away from the outer lane where our matatu had stopped and walking drunkenly smack into the middle of the busy traffic. The cause of the accident? A dog! Somehow, the dog managed to dodge one or two cars but then a lorry drove right into the silly canine, leaving it frozen on its back with its legs pointing towards heaven. By this time, all the passengers had gotten out of both matatus to watch the drama unfold, the accident forgotten temporarily. "Imekufa?", a rhetorical question for the dog was clearly dead. Or so we thought. Five minutes did not go by before the dog got up and defiantly walked across the road to the petrol station. A collective breath was held. There was no trace of blood whatsoever; the dog's fur remained white. The dog continued its deranged activity: it walked from the petrol station to our side of the road and back, and went on with this back and forth, back and forth business , and then finally disappeared into the bushes just before 'utumishi kwa wote' arrived. Thankfully, there was no other accident although there were a couple of near-misses. This is one of those experiences that I cannot forget. Was this just a simple case of a crazy dog suffering from mad-dog disease or was it a ghost/strange force looking for blood? I can't help but wonder, especially as this place where it all happened is both a black spot where many accidents have been known to happen, and also near a cemetery.
Speaking of which, my friend from Cameroon (of the mermaids legacy) recently entertained me with tales of witchcraft and juju in her country. Apparently people in her country strongly believe in juju; and different regions practice different forms of juju. In her region, it is believed that thunder can be used for evil purposes. So that a relative jealous of my friend's Masters degree may 'send' thunder to harm her. But my friend only needs to click her fingers over her head when she sees the thunder and declare 'back to sender!' to protect herself from the intended harm. Not wishing to be defeated, our Tanzanian colleague told us how politicians in Tanzania include a visit to the 'mganga' in their campaign strategy.
But let us not go too far from home. Was it not just last year when the dailies carried a story about the lengths that Kenyan women are going to in order to get men or keep their unfaithful men at home?!
Incidentally, did you know witchcraft is illegal in Kenya? The Witchcraft Act criminalises witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment and the possession of charms. Clearly, this law is not being enforced as signs advertising the services of 'waganga' all the way from Tanzania are unashamedly posted in the streets of Nairobi and Mombasa. But of course, as things go in Kenya, wanainchi have been known to take matters into their own hands and play judge, jury and executioner as recently happened when a group of people suspected to be practicing witchcraft were lynched to death in Kisii and burnt to death in Pokot.
Truth is stranger than fiction, I always say.
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