Where Belief in witchcraft refuses to die

By James Wanzala

Makueni was the first region in Ukambani to embrace Christianity — but for some reason, witchcraft still reigns supreme.

So strong is the belief in witchcraft that some witchdoctors have gained fame and wealth. One such person is Annah Mutheu Ndunda whose fame spreads wide beyond the dusty hills of Tala and Kangundo.

Annah, 38, and a mother of two, is a prominent traditional healer who has earned her fame and titles like ‘Doctor, Professor’ through her seemingly supernatural powers of treating people’s social problems and diseases ranging from erectile dysfunction, location of lost or kidnapped persons, recovery of lost or stolen properties, job loss and securing promotion, taming unfaithful partners, restoring broken relationships and marriages among others.

Our search for Annah takes us to Tala town on the Nairobi–Kangundo Road, about 50 kilometers from Nairobi. We are led to a building Annah Plaza about 200 meters from Tala town, where we meet a man whom we learn is her guide. We tell him we are here to meet Daktari.

He leads us to Annah’s apartment and leaves us at the gate, directing us to a blue metallic gate. Though it is 8am there is already a long queue of men and women waiting to see Annah. There is a man at the door allowing each person one at a time.

Lost grandfather

We don’t reveal that we are journalists nosing for a story and he tells us to join the queue and wait for our turn. We decide to come clean and tell him of our true mission and soon enough we are ushered in immediately. We find Annah seated on a large black sofa with all manner of paraphernalia around her.

Annah was born in Katwii village in Kangundo District in Machakos County in 1974 in a family where her grandfather was a witchdoctor cum prophet (mwathani) who unfortunately got lost at 67 years of age and has never been found to date. She started practising witchcraft at a tender age of seven in primary school. She was later forced to drop out of school in Standard Six because of the noises she claims were in her head.

“I used to dream of four doves fighting to enter into my mother’s house and they would land on my head. This would make me convulse,” she says.

“People of different stature in the society started coming to me to be prayed for and strangely enough they were healed. It was when I realised I had supernatural powers that were first in my grandfather,” she adds.

Many of those who came brought finger millet (wimbi) and she told them whatever it was that was disturbing them.

At the age of nine, she started going to the forest to look for herbs to give the patients and they were healed. She seemed to pick out the herbs by sheer instinct; these she would give to her patients and they would recover. She also vividly recalls how while in school, female teachers would ask her to help them locate their wayward husbands. She would direct them and sure enough they would find their spouses at the exact location.

Some of her stories are quite unbelievable. For example, she says one day while in a trance she fell into a dam (silanga) and slept there the whole night and when she woke up the morning she vomited some seeds like balls which she started using to unravel (kupiga ramli) the problems of people by shaking the balls.

“Since that time, I have become a professional traditional witchdoctor treating people from various sicknesses that sometimes have confounded modern medicine,” she explains.

Made a name

Given her prowess in traditional medicine Annah has been featured in many television stations. She has used her powers to arrest thieves by making their stomach swell and making them eat grass among other strange deeds.

She claims to be the one behind the recent location and capture of Murang’a kidnappers of a woman and the widely televised Kimende incident (in Limuru) where seven people who had stolen a cow brought it back and decided to reform. She claims to have healed people who were bewitched or were under a curse.

She points out at Stephen Kamau, 27 a farmer from Ruai who had lost a solar panel but recovered it after Annah’s intervention. Today he was here to show his appreciation to her. Annah claims that her powers are from God to help people where doctors have failed. To dispel any fears about her supernatural abilities she says she is a strong churchgoer at Katwii Catholic church in Kangundo. She believes and acknowledges God as all-powerful. She uses herbs from different trees to make concoctions to treat people while other sicknesses needs unraveling the problem and using her magical wand and supernatural powers to heal a person.

In case a patient is seriously ill, he or she gets admitted in room at Annah Plaza from where she can monitor one closely. She is, however, decrying that trees and bushes are getting cut indiscriminately forcing her to go for her herbs from as far as Uganda and Tanzania.

“This has forced me to buy seedlings and distribute to people to plant in Tala and Kangundo areas,” she says.

Fakes everywhere

However, Annah is also facing the challenge of imposters. She says many fake people are starting medical centres under her name to try and woo her clients while others including boda boda riders take advantage of her customers and drive them around instead of bringing them directly to her place and later some con them of their money.

She claims to have helped even prominent politicians to win elective posts though they visit her in secret. She claims some of her come from as far as from German, Korea, US, Japan, Tanzania and Canada. She operates her clinic from Monday to Sunday and only takes the afternoon off when she goes to church.

She is currently supporting about 12 students in secondary school as her way of giving back to the community.