Many ominous things will happen to whoever ordered the hit on slain businessman Jacob Juma, his family has sworn. One is that the culprit could perish in a plane crash and burn to ashes.
In an interview with The Nairobian, Juma’s elder brother, Gerishon Wesonga, revealed that the family has little interest and faith in the ongoing police investigation to find the businessman’s killers.
Instead, his family in Mungare village in Bumula, Bungoma County, will perform elaborate rituals, known as okhusalisia in the local dialect to avenge Juma’s spilt blood and unleash terror on his killers. Juma was in the Batura Luhya sub-tribe, which performs this ritual in murder cases where killers remain unknown.
“One of his brothers or uncles will descend into Juma’s grave before his body is lowered and utter binding curse words which will ensure that Juma’s killers don’t rest and pay for this heinous act.
“In the grave, we shall tell Juma that, ‘You alone know the persons who killed you. Deal with them like a man. Don’t allow them to rest until they pay up for this murder’,” the, 63-year-old Wesonga disclosed.
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According to Wesonga, the ritual is extremely potent and the curse will follow whoever killed Juma “even if it is an Indian or white man.”
What if the executioners were hired hitmen on someone’s payroll, The Nairobian posed.
“All those involved will pay. Some will become mad, some will be run over by cars and those who fly could end up dying when the aircraft they are flying in catch fire in the sky and burn. This will start happening immediately Juma’s body is laid to rest in our Mungore village soil,” promised Wesonga who spoke on behalf of the family.
Prodded by The Nairobian on how they will perform the ritual of bringing back Juma’s spirit yet the place where he met his death is a matter of contention, Peter Nyongesa, another brother who said he was Juma’s bakoki (they were circumcised together) explained that, “Juma will appear to one of us in a dream and show us exactly where he was killed. That is where we shall go and pick his spirit and bring it back home so that it doesn’t wander without a home.”
Wesonga explained that Juma’s other brothers, Milton and Eliud Makokha, as well as his sisters, will also bath separately in a river then slaughter a bull to indicate that they did not have a hand in their brother’s death. After 40 days, the family will go and collect Juma’s spirit from the exact place he was killed.
This ritual, which is practiced among the Luhya community, caught public attention when Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa led the Baengele clan and Yvonne Wamalwa to the UK to bring back the spirit of former Vice President Wamalwa Kijana, who died at a London hospital.
In February last year, the family of Meshack Yebei, an ICC witness whose disappearance and murder made news headlines, announced they had resorted to African traditional rituals as a last resort to unravel the murder of their kin. His murderers were expected to confess within 40 days of the ritual, they warned.
We are yet to verify whether this did come to pass or not.
— Robert Amalemba
