They were saved from the threat of mob
justice but are now living in abject
poverty and pain.
These are the rejected and neglected
Kilifi elders, who have been thrown out
of their homes by their families to
languish in the wilderness.
The only crime for nineteen old men and
women is that they are suspected of
witchcraft on account of their grey hair
and red eyes.
They now live at Kaya Godhoma, a
rescue centre at the far-flung Mrima wa
Ndege, in Ganze, deep in Kilifi.
To save them from lynch mobs, the
community figured out that their
“enemies’’—actually the elders’ close
relatives and neighbours—would not
have the audacity to attack them at a
holy shrine.
But they might as well have jumped
from the frying pan into the fire: The
community that is supposed to clothe
and feed them is itself a picture of abject
poverty.
When Nation reporters visited the shrine
on Wednesday, they were met by a
group of frail and sickly old men and
women on the verge of starvation.
The octogenarians were all thrown out of
their homes by family members, mainly
their own children and grandchildren,
over allegations of witchcraft.
In interviews with a number of them,
shrine officials and community leaders,
it emerges that accusations of witchcraft
were possibly excuses to take over their
property.
It was a conversation with people in
deep pain and a longing to be re-united
with the same families that have rejected
them. In breaking voices and glowing
eyes, some recalled the good times with
their children, before breaking down in
tears.
Community leaders, however, say they
cannot be released to their families until
their security is assured. Further, their
families have shown little interest in
getting them back and do not visit.
“We have to follow a lengthy procedure
before releasing them to return home,’’
says Kaya chairman Emmanuel Katana.
“Most of their families, their children
included, show little interest in them,”
Mzee Katana adds.
According Mzee Katana the rejected and
dejected elders were adjudged to be
witches and wizards by witchdoctors.
Although we are told that Ms Jumwa
Kalume from Palakumi, is 80 years old,
she looks more than 90. Frail and sickly,
she complained of chest and stomach
pains, a consistent cough punctuating
our interview.
When her daughter-in-law was taken ill
with what Mr Katana and other elders
say appeared to be arthritis last year,
her grandchildren concluded that she
had bewitched their mother. One
evening, she said, they poured petrol on
her hut and set it alight.
Luckily and unknown to the arsonists,
she was not in the house. Ms Kalume
was rescued and taken to the shelter.
She now believes that the real reason
behind her being thrown out was her
land, cows and goats.
“I have forgiven them and I love them a
lot. I miss my grandchildren and would
like to return home,’’ she says, amid
sobs.
However but Mr Katana says it would be
risky to send her back home. “We have
spoken to the son many times and when
we ask if he wants the mother back, he
says they need time to think about it,’’
says the Kaya chairman.
Pola Kilao Charo was born in 1930.
When one of her grandsons was
admitted to hospital, his parents decided
to take him home instead and he died.
Upon inquiring about his health, she was
branded a witch, she says.
Minutes later, an urgent family meeting
was convened where it was decided she
had to leave the home, she recalls. Her
last- born son escorted her out of her
home. Ms Charo sought refuge for three
days at the nearby Bamba Police Station.
On the third day, she says, relatives told
her that they had come to take her back
home only to dump her at the shrine.
Joseph Katana’s case is possibly the
saddest. The dirty and dishevelled man
with failing eyesight is lucky to be alive.
A former cook for a whiteman at
Watamu, the 70-year-old narrates how
he was stoned by one of his wives and
her sons until he almost lost his sight.
The family accused him of selling a
beach plot without their knowledge. He
broke down and cried, explaining how
the family started associating him with
witchcraft. It was then that he knew
where he would end up. Mzee Katana,
says he quickly approached his pastor to
hide the land ownership documents on
his behalf. The pastor would rescue him
and take him to the shelter. Now he does
not know the fate of his property and
has yet to get a clear answer from the
pastor. He wants to sell his property to
educate his six daughters and build a
house each for the sons who attacked
him.
The Nation learnt of 17 similar cases.
At the Kaya, we found Kilifi county
government social worker Fred Konde
speaking to the elders while overseeing
the rehabilitation of their makuti -
thatched hovels.
Later, officials from the county
government’s central stores visited to
check the facilities that the county had
donated, including a water tank and
makuti .
source:daily nation