Witchcraft hysteria grips Coast as men claim to mysteriously lose private parts

It started as a bizarre rumour, a ridiculous claim that some men in Mombasa had their private parts stolen or shrunk through witchcraft at Kwa Bulo. Before long, the story spiralled out of control.

The allegation that a coven of witches had descended on the Coast with the sole aim of harvesting men’s genitalia through black magic has since spread across Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties.

The bizarre claims appear to have caught security agencies by surprise, as armed youths began moving from house to house in search of the alleged witches, intent on hunting them down and killing them.

On Monday, more than 500 armed youths nearly overran a police station in Mombasa in an attempt to seize and lynch suspected witches being held there.

The story is remarkably similar across Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi: someone allegedly touched a man on the shoulder, after which his testicles disappeared or his private parts mysteriously shrank.

Police have recorded cases in the three counties involving at least five men who claim to have either lost their genitalia or experienced a dramatic shrinking of their testicles.

On Friday, a woman narrowly escaped death after residents of Kwa Bulo in Mombasa nearly lynched her over allegations of witchcraft. She was accused of casting a spell that caused a young boy’s genitalia to shrink.

 Mob justice 

In a similar incident in Kongowea, Mombasa County, a man was nearly killed by boda boda riders and members of the public after being accused of causing the disappearance of the rider’s testicles through witchcraft.

Last week, police engaged in running battles with traders, boda boda riders and members of the public to rescue four men from being lynched on suspicion of harvesting testicles through black magic.

The four were accused of mysteriously causing a businessman’s testicles to shrink, a phenomenon that even Nigerian films, often associated with tales of sorcery and witchcraft, have yet to portray.

The song Vavayo says, “These days witches are not the elderly anymore” (siku hizi wachawi si wazee), reflecting how younger generations have increasingly been drawn into beliefs surrounding witchcraft and sorcery.

In 2020, prominent Mombasa lawyer Musa Aziz told a court how he was swindled out of Sh20 million by a Tanzanian witch doctor while attempting to enrich himself using his clients’ money.

Aziz said the witch doctor convinced him he could multiply the Sh20 million and help him acquire mystical “red mercury”. Instead, Aziz was left with drawings depicting heaven, while the witch doctor disappeared with the cash. The lawyer was later charged with theft relating to the missing client funds.

In 2017, self-proclaimed witch doctor Stephen Mang’era claimed that Sh18.5 million seized from him was part of a Sh50 million payment from an Indian client for treating an illness.

In the past, only a few communities were stereotypically associated with sorcery and witchcraft. Today, however, such beliefs cut across ethnic lines, fuelling a thriving industry of witch doctors posing as spiritual healers.

In the coastal counties of Kilifi and Kwale, elderly people have been killed and maimed by relatives who accuse them of bewitching family members.

In Kisii and Nyamira counties, stories persist of people casting evil eyes and invoking illness or mysterious objects, known locally as ebibiriri, into others.

Ukambani is often regarded as a stronghold of witch doctors believed to possess powers to exorcise demons, djinn and curses from people and homesteads.

Belief in witchcraft has also hampered development in some villages in Luo Nyanza, where some residents fear being bewitched if they build stone houses with iron-sheet roofs.

Similarly, some villagers in Nyamira no longer keep cattle due to fears that witchcraft will prevent the animals from producing milk. Many now rely on milk supplied from neighbouring Kericho and Bomet counties.

According to a police report from Kadzandani in Mombasa County, a woman identified as Lilian Awour was attacked and assaulted by members of the public after neighbours accused her of practising witchcraft.

Awour was accused of causing the disappearance of a young boy’s genitalia in the Kwa Bulo area.

Police arrested four suspects after rescuing her from the mob. Those arrested included Abednego Wanjala, 29, Chaka Julius, 17, Agnes Charo and Minicent Mutiso.

Police detained the women and escorted the man and the minor for psychiatric assessment before their arraignment at the Shanzu Law Courts.

However, Mombasa County Commissioner Mohamed Nur said such allegations are often used by criminals to steal from unsuspecting members of the public. He warned against defaming innocent people through false accusations.

He said doctors had confirmed that the men complaining of missing testicles had, in fact, suffered no such loss. 

 Criminal scheme or witchcraft?

“These are new tricks used by criminals to steal from others. When they see someone carrying a phone or money, they claim one of them has been bewitched and immediately a crowd descends on the victim,” he said, adding that one man in Likoni who claimed to have lost his genitals was medically examined and found to be physically intact.

Nur added that accusations of witchcraft and attacks on suspects have become increasingly common, particularly in the Marikiti and Kongowea market areas. “We witnessed chaos in Kongowea, where a man was injured by a mob, and another incident in Marikiti Market. All these incidents were aimed at creating confusion to facilitate theft,” he said.

In another Kongowea incident, boda boda rider Joseph Muche claimed that while ferrying a passenger, 46-year-old Ristley Nyimiri, towards the Mombasa Governor’s office at about 10am, his testicles suddenly shrank and disappeared after Nyimiri touched him.

He raised an alarm and fellow riders descended on Nyimiri, who was rescued by private security officers.

The riders overwhelmed officers from Kongowea Police Station, forcing police reinforcements to fire shots into the air to disperse the crowd.

Elsewhere in Samburu, Kwale County, two men accused of witchcraft were rescued after a resident alleged that they had harvested his genitals after greeting him.

Kofa Fafi, 53, and Athman Nyamawi, 26, were rescued from an angry mob by police. It was alleged that the pair greeted Tsuma Mwavadu, after which his genitals disappeared.

The two men were cornered near a mosque and threatened with lynching before police intervened.

Police said members of the public followed the suspects to the station and nearly overpowered officers, forcing the deployment of GSU officers and reinforcements from Taru Police Station.

At least eight people have since been charged in Kwale for allegedly assaulting a woman accused of making a man’s private parts disappear through witchcraft.

According to one complainant, the alleged witches approached him at his shop in Kadzandani and attempted to discuss the gospel with him.

When he declined and they walked away, he claimed his testicles shrank, prompting him to ask a neighbour whether he had experienced a similar problem.

On Friday, more than 500 protesters demonstrated in Mombasa, demanding the release of two men rescued from mob justice so they could allegedly return the “harvested” testicles to their victims.