Kikuyus do witchcraft for money

 Ghost buster Hjumapili Suleiman Mwanzilali alias Baakanda/Kisirani from Diani, Kwale at his home

University of Nairobi Sociology lecturer, Ken Ouko says the modern Kikuyu man or woman is more receptive of other cultures. Because of this, he argues, the Agikuyu culture has benefited from a ventilation process that now permits them to rear fish and eat fish.

This partially explains why such practises as witchcraft, hitherto unheard of among the Agikuyu, are now trending. Mzee Mathenge wa Iregi, an elder from the Mount Kenya region, agrees, saying the rising trend of Central Kenya people turning to witchcraft is surprising because juju was not entrenched in their cultural history like it was in Kirinyaga, Embu and Meru.

“Although the Kikuyu community believed in witchcraft, the community did not have witchdoctors, but the residents had their own ways of finding solutions to mysterious circumstances,” he said.

Ouko terms witchcraft among the Agikuyu as a survivalist technique.

“Of all the ethnic communities in Kenya, the Agikuyu are the most spatially dispersed. In pursuit of their famed commercial exploits, the Agikuyu will settle anywhere in Kenya as long as they are able to exist profitably regardless of prevalent hostilities from the host communities.

“Their sudden affinity to witchcraft may be interpreted as a survivalist technique. If a Kikuyu in, say Bungoma, gets to know that the richest trader in the village uses witchcraft, he will also look for stronger juju. When you go to Rome, do as the Romans do,” says the sociologist.

Ouko also links witchcraft to the capitalist mindset of the Agikuyu: “If, as it is believed, the Agikuyu are willing to go to any lengths to generate, protect and perpetuate wealth, and witchcraft happens to be one such means of actualising their capitalistic mindset, the Agikuyu will go for it and perfect it.”