By Kiundu Waweru
Remember the classic fairy tale of a genie in a bottle? Well, residents of Kenol, Murang’a County, woke up Thursday to a sight akin to the old genie tale.
A clear coloured four-litre bottle had been left at the entrance of a shop at the centre. Inside the bottle were pieces of raw meat, resembling the liver, floating in reddish liquid.
As the people gathered around the shop bringing business to a standstill, they puzzled how the big chunks of meat got in through the narrow mouth and neck of the bottle.
Police officers were called and they inspected the "thing" with detached interest and questioned the shop owner, asking if she suspected anyone. They left shortly after, without a solution.
Well, there are things the long hand of the law cannot grasp; they call for divine intervention and thank God for the men of the cloth who abound on every ridge in the land.
Prayed
They came from different denominations and of one accord. They prayed and exorcised the spirit of witchcraft and cursed the ill intentioned person or people who did the despicable act of planting juju in a bottle.
The owner of the shop, a middle aged woman, was too shocked to say anything. But a few hours after the "thing" was thrown away, her daughter, still visibly shaken, narrated the events.
Her mom had woken up as always, but when she opened the shop’s front door, something blocked the door from the outside. She used the back door and went round to the front to inspect only to stop dead in her tracks.
What could be the meaning of this?
Her shocked demeanour attracted people and soon, the front of her shop was teeming with curious onlookers.
"We have no enemies. We have no problems in the family and I cannot say, or think that anyone is bewitching us," said the daughter.
She added that her mother has operated the shop for over 20 years and nothing like that had ever happened before.
Pastor
"Tumeshangaa sana. Nani anaweza kufanya kitendo kama hichi? Maana yake ni nini? (we are in shock, we wonder who did this. What it means)," she said.
One pastor of the Akorino faith lifted the bottle high up in the sky and declared war on witchcraft. The eyewitnesses agreed with him.
Curse
"This is witchcraft and whatever the intended message, shetani ashindwe (we curse the devil)," they shouted.
Kenol, named after the first filling station in the area, has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, attracting business people from Murang’a and far off areas.
The positive growth seems to correlate with corresponding vices, with residents saying that a lot happens around there that goes unreported.
Most perplexing is that although the Gikuyu have been known not to practise witchcraft, events in recent times suggest slopes of Mt Kenya could be catching up.
