Author: jamaapoa
•Monday, June 19, 2006
last weekend i decided to cool my head at the coast. apparently this season, coast is cooler and wetter than the capital. that defies not only the norm but also the maxim of the higher you go the cooler it becomes. unlike the times when ‘watu wa bara’ are harassed by the coastal climate, during this time the weather is fantastic. i went to the heart of kaloleni division and encountered one of the nine kayas or mji of wachonyi, the better subtribe of the mijikenda tribe which has nine subtribes. i was nowhere near civilization and i had to keep reminding myself that i am still in kenya. i think what i went through would rate highly in the survivor series. i will tackle one in this post, the others later.
i did experience a lot of interesting stuff but what baffled me most were the stories about witchcraft. this subtribe is the guru of these mystic games and some of the tales i heard could not be classified by my mind as anything near reality. however the locals hold them yours truly and their lives are guided and governed by the fear of the same. while their wagiriama cousins are busy seeking after the political kingdom, the wachonyi are content with their supernatural pursuits.
whenever i heard of the man-eaters of tsavo before, i would think of the lions that used to maul railway construction workers and traders in the early 1900s. now that will also be a passphrase for another kind of man-eaters; cannibals at the coast. i have always thought that in kenya we have only one cannibalistic grouping somewhere in the rift valley, maybe rumours, but there seems to be another one. in the heart of the subtribe is a grouping called ‘watu wa chama’. they are believed to have the real mizimu powers and a host of jinis at their beckon and call to terrorize any enemies. they believe in human sacrifice. human flesh is provided by new converts who sacrifice their closest relatives in order to join and sustain membership. the more human blood you provide the more you rise in the rank and file of the group. they have a huge appetite for more ‘developed villagers’ blood and the more you grow in wealth, the more you are required to sacrifice for protection. i was told that this is one of the reasons that make the area largely undeveloped.
once a target sacrifice dies of mysterious circumstances and is buried a ritual is carried in the evening of the burial to recover the body. senior members of the group approach the grave naked and in reverse gear chanting. they ‘knock’ on the grave and the body pops up, no exhuming! the body is later carried and hung inside a store which is strategically positioned above the fireplace in the way of the billowing smoke. smoke is a good preservative of meat.
usually the delicacy is eaten gradually with time as all and sundry enjoy a good serving of the local brew mnazi. mnazi is tapped skillfully from the coconut tree and later fermented. and here lies the trap for unsuspecting mnazi clients. the local mnazi brew den may not be serving chicken or goat meat but human flesh peddled as genuine meat. once an unsuspecting person takes that meat, you are already initiated to be a mtu wa chama. that same night, the jinis will visit you and require you to sacrifice someone close for you are already a member. for such, the jinis thirst for human blood is insatiable and they ask and ask and ask till you have given them your whole family. many locals are unable to handle the torture and they end up committing suicide.
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5 comments:
It is like going to the dark side of the moon is it not? How scary and how interesting. I grew up not knowing or believing in witchcraft - but there are people who actually believe and practise this fell art.
Are you back whole?
Hehe, great to see you enjoye dthe cooler temps in Pwani & am sure you had a ball.
This tale reads like one I've heard so many times from folks who haven't lived long enough among the coastal people to distinguish between fables and reality or at times to be able to tell when someone is merely pulling wool over their eyes to see what the reaction is.
Growing up we saw some pranks being played on non-locals & those included tales of cats walking on their hind legs & speaking in human voices at night, the guy with donkey legs or the beautiful female passenger who hikes a ridein your car late at night, she takes the back seat & when you get to her destination she's disappered into thin air...upon getting out of the car to check you wake up to find yourself sleeping ontop of a fresh grave.
Do they cannibalise their own? Let me check with some Chonyi, Rabai & Giriama friends I know,lol!
@uaridi, yeah to some extent its scary but to us who didnt have a childhood orientation of witchcraft, it sounds too wierd to be true. got back more than relaxed, thanks.
@akiey, pwani is always a great place to cool the city stress. you are kidding, right? i doubt whether most of them are pranks, there must be some truths in some of those stories. its even been on tv, one time it was a ghost buster in miritini, last night it was msa residents complaining of child kidnapping who are later found dead with critical body organs gouged out. they do cannibalise their own.
As an African-American, stories such as these sound like the latest Hollywood movie. And it is hard to imagine that it could very well be fact in some cultures/tribes/religions/etc.
@kiyotoe, indeed it is facts in certain cultures. if for example what we see in the nigerian movies is society inspired, its scary for some of us imagining growing up in such a background, driven by fear of charms and being bewitched.