Some time last year I was on a three months contract working for a non government organization. My area of duty was within Kiambu county to collect data from the residents to aide a political survey.
Through this period, I rented a bedsitter in Muchatha which I didn't have to furnish except for the bare essentials. It was a three storey buiding and a shared compound with the landlady as her house was adjacent to the rentals.
The landlady lived with the husband and her only daughter. Her two sons had their houses on the same compound. A plot of land , quarter acre in size. This woman is in her late seventies whereas the husband is already eighty. She's a brawler and many were the times tenants would request her to be quiet for the sake of sanity. Rumuors had it that no tenant ever lived there for more than a month due to the frequent fights amongst themselves. Nonetheless, there were still a few bachelors left living therein.
She was an angry woman, bitter than cayenne and she would insult the husband for hours until her voice gets hoarse.
The husband was quiet even on the days when he would be drunk. He would always return home quietly and sleep.
The landlady built the houses I was now living in. She always emphasized how illiterate her husband was and her children were complete fools. She stopped cooking for the husband a couple of decades ago and the husband had to eat the food her daughter cooks.
The landlady cooks her own food as she claims that her children and husband wants to kill her by poisoning the food.
The only daughter is fifty two and lives in the same house and she confessed cooking her food and the dad's since she was twenty!
The sons are hopeless drunkards and the landlady literally asked their wives to leave her sons alone and never wanted to have any daughter in law in her home.
This woman is overly superstitious. She believes that one has to practise wizardry or witchcraft so as to excel. Many are times she questioned where I visit to be 'treated' seeing I've a good life.She was quite persistent until I told her that I do none of what she say.
A week after that conversation,she requested if I was free to take her to the hospital instead of her commuting. She would fuel my car. I agreed to taking her on one Friday afternoon since I didn't have much on my desk.
She had already told me that the hospital is in Tseikuru. She was introduced to it by her friend who also had ailing legs as herself. We got to a village named Kakunike and she directed me to drive to one homestead.
" This is the hospital where all problems are solved. This is where I get my treatment" so she said.
It appeared a normal home with children playing on the compound. I came to a halt and she alighted. I was hesitant and asked her to proceed as I would wait for her in the car.
She insisted and her loud voice attracted the attention of the house owners(I suppose they were) and they came where we were and greeted her first and the man of the house demanded I too should accompany them to the house.
We were led to a room that had countless wood carvings on the side and at the middle there was a black huge ring and a white basin at the middle. There were several calabashes placed in a corner and on the other end was a fireplace and a pot was placed on it. The door remained closed upon entering and a mirror hang on the wall. This was a mud house we were in even though there were stone houses on the compound.
Only the man came in with us and had left the wife outside. My landlady said we were in a hurry since we had to travel back to the city before it gets dark. I had already warned her that I hate driving at night .
She never explained her problems to this man ,which she later confessed to me that this man knows what brought you there,and all of your issues with only an eye contact. The man commanded her to undress every cloth in her body! He fetched a liquid that appeared black from the pot and my landlady was asked to stand on the white basin placed in the middle of the room and he began sprinkling it on her body as he went round seven times.
Once done, shestepped out of the basin and the liquid that had dropped in the basin, he did mix it with a powder that appeared grey. Ash I thought! Once he had mixed the powder with that liquid in to a smooth paste, he smeared it on her butt and breast and she was asked to stand in front of the mirror as the man chanted all through. Thick smoke emanated from the mirror on to her chest and her eyes were shut during this exercise.
After about ten or so minutes, she was asked for the gift she brought with her. It was a bundle of money that had been stacked in her handbag. A hundred thousand shillings. She was asked to sit on the money(still naked) and look in to the mirror. An image of a lady sobbing popped on the mirror and my landlady let out an evil laugh.
" Heeeee Asante sana,asante asante" she said repeatedly.
She was asked to rise up and she shouldn't shower for the next seven days . The paste smeared on her should remove on its own and she shouldn't deliberately wipe it off.
She arose and wore back her clothes as I watched and it was time to leave. They bid each other farewell and she promised to return soon.
My legs trembled and my heart sunk. I was in utter disbelief. I didn't know what to say to her and I only wished I had wings to fly back. That was the longest drive I ever made. She asked me to keep this as a secret and the next time we would return to this village, I should let the man treat me. She bragged of how she would find people in tears and the way this man has treated her on many occasions. How she's untouchable and her greatest joy is being able to control her environment.
She explained of the different processes of treatment she has undergone and each depends with the issue at hand. We arrived late in the night but I couldn't sleep. I packed my clothes and the few items I had,placed them in my car and drove to an airBnb in Ruaka. That's where I spent the remaining one week to my contract ending. Never to hear from this woman again.
Through this period, I rented a bedsitter in Muchatha which I didn't have to furnish except for the bare essentials. It was a three storey buiding and a shared compound with the landlady as her house was adjacent to the rentals.
The landlady lived with the husband and her only daughter. Her two sons had their houses on the same compound. A plot of land , quarter acre in size. This woman is in her late seventies whereas the husband is already eighty. She's a brawler and many were the times tenants would request her to be quiet for the sake of sanity. Rumuors had it that no tenant ever lived there for more than a month due to the frequent fights amongst themselves. Nonetheless, there were still a few bachelors left living therein.
She was an angry woman, bitter than cayenne and she would insult the husband for hours until her voice gets hoarse.
The husband was quiet even on the days when he would be drunk. He would always return home quietly and sleep.
The landlady built the houses I was now living in. She always emphasized how illiterate her husband was and her children were complete fools. She stopped cooking for the husband a couple of decades ago and the husband had to eat the food her daughter cooks.
The landlady cooks her own food as she claims that her children and husband wants to kill her by poisoning the food.
The only daughter is fifty two and lives in the same house and she confessed cooking her food and the dad's since she was twenty!
The sons are hopeless drunkards and the landlady literally asked their wives to leave her sons alone and never wanted to have any daughter in law in her home.
This woman is overly superstitious. She believes that one has to practise wizardry or witchcraft so as to excel. Many are times she questioned where I visit to be 'treated' seeing I've a good life.She was quite persistent until I told her that I do none of what she say.
A week after that conversation,she requested if I was free to take her to the hospital instead of her commuting. She would fuel my car. I agreed to taking her on one Friday afternoon since I didn't have much on my desk.
She had already told me that the hospital is in Tseikuru. She was introduced to it by her friend who also had ailing legs as herself. We got to a village named Kakunike and she directed me to drive to one homestead.
" This is the hospital where all problems are solved. This is where I get my treatment" so she said.
It appeared a normal home with children playing on the compound. I came to a halt and she alighted. I was hesitant and asked her to proceed as I would wait for her in the car.
She insisted and her loud voice attracted the attention of the house owners(I suppose they were) and they came where we were and greeted her first and the man of the house demanded I too should accompany them to the house.
We were led to a room that had countless wood carvings on the side and at the middle there was a black huge ring and a white basin at the middle. There were several calabashes placed in a corner and on the other end was a fireplace and a pot was placed on it. The door remained closed upon entering and a mirror hang on the wall. This was a mud house we were in even though there were stone houses on the compound.
Only the man came in with us and had left the wife outside. My landlady said we were in a hurry since we had to travel back to the city before it gets dark. I had already warned her that I hate driving at night .
She never explained her problems to this man ,which she later confessed to me that this man knows what brought you there,and all of your issues with only an eye contact. The man commanded her to undress every cloth in her body! He fetched a liquid that appeared black from the pot and my landlady was asked to stand on the white basin placed in the middle of the room and he began sprinkling it on her body as he went round seven times.
Once done, shestepped out of the basin and the liquid that had dropped in the basin, he did mix it with a powder that appeared grey. Ash I thought! Once he had mixed the powder with that liquid in to a smooth paste, he smeared it on her butt and breast and she was asked to stand in front of the mirror as the man chanted all through. Thick smoke emanated from the mirror on to her chest and her eyes were shut during this exercise.
After about ten or so minutes, she was asked for the gift she brought with her. It was a bundle of money that had been stacked in her handbag. A hundred thousand shillings. She was asked to sit on the money(still naked) and look in to the mirror. An image of a lady sobbing popped on the mirror and my landlady let out an evil laugh.
" Heeeee Asante sana,asante asante" she said repeatedly.
She was asked to rise up and she shouldn't shower for the next seven days . The paste smeared on her should remove on its own and she shouldn't deliberately wipe it off.
She arose and wore back her clothes as I watched and it was time to leave. They bid each other farewell and she promised to return soon.
My legs trembled and my heart sunk. I was in utter disbelief. I didn't know what to say to her and I only wished I had wings to fly back. That was the longest drive I ever made. She asked me to keep this as a secret and the next time we would return to this village, I should let the man treat me. She bragged of how she would find people in tears and the way this man has treated her on many occasions. How she's untouchable and her greatest joy is being able to control her environment.
She explained of the different processes of treatment she has undergone and each depends with the issue at hand. We arrived late in the night but I couldn't sleep. I packed my clothes and the few items I had,placed them in my car and drove to an airBnb in Ruaka. That's where I spent the remaining one week to my contract ending. Never to hear from this woman again.