Astonishing tale of how 'witch doctor' lost Sh47 million in cash, cars

With bags of cash in millions, a man drove from Kericho to Mombasa to buy two hearses and an apartment, and look for a school for son but landed in police custody. He told the court he was a registered herbalist who "gets herbs from forests and mountains or as directed by the angels."

Nabil Loo Mohamed, Bakari Kila Bakari, Stephen Vicker Mangira, and Lillian Benard when they appeared before Shanzu Magistrate Diana Mochache on March 16, 2027. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Mangira's passport also showed he was a frequent visitor to Tanzania for unknown reasons. His accounts in Kericho showed regular cash deposits of between Sh30, 000 and Sh1.5 million.

In pushing back, Mangira told the civil court that the criminal court had agreed with him that his line of work does not constitute crime.

He also stated that a no-guilty finding and acquittal in the criminal court should lead to automatic termination of the preservation and forfeiture proceedings.

Mangira was being tried afresh for what he had just been acquitted of, and by the same agencies, same investigators, he complained.

But this case was different from the criminal case, and Justice Njoki Mwangi apprised him of it.

She said it was one of the rare cases where the burden of proof shifts to the respondent. This is unlike criminal cases where the burden of proof lies with the prosecution and where in his matter, the prosecution had failed to rebut the evidence he gave on his source of money.

Beyond reasonable doubt

On this one, it was up to Mangira to prove he was not engaged in a criminal enterprise. Besides, the burden of proof in the criminal case for the prosecution had been that of "beyond reasonable doubts" but in the civil case, Mangira's inverse burden was hard to hit; balance of probability.

In analysing the evidence, the court took note of several things, among them the fact that his main and only known dealership company - Cerabafide Investments - had been registered just a few days before his arrest, meaning it could not have made him the wealth in question.

The court also noted that Mangira did not produce any title documents or sale agreements in respect of the land he allegedly sold in Kericho. The advocate through which he claimed he processed the sale did not exist and he did not produce any acknowledgement receipt for filing tax returns to prove that he was indeed a successful witch doctor or herbalist.

Sale agreements

He also failed to produce sale agreements for the apartments and the hearses he was going to purchase in Mombasa at the time of travelling to Mombasa.

More importantly, however, was the court's observation that Mangira's explanation of the source of his wealth had evolved. It had changed from proceeds of the sale of land to proceeds of witchdoctor's enterprise through an Indian client.

"The inconsistency in the explanation as to the source of his income validates the assertion by the applicant as to the illegitimacy of the money and assets in question," the judge said, adding that such variance could not be reconciled.

She said Mangira and his accomplices had failed to discharge the burden of proof on balance of probability, and that she had no choice but to draw the conclusion that motor vehicles and monies were indeed proceeds of crime.

On January 20, 2023, Justice Mwangi ordered the forfeiture of the eight cars to the state, as well as the Sh18.5 million found in possession of Mangira, Sh348, 000 and USD1500 found on Bakari, and Sh2.6 million in Mangira's Kericho based bank.

In the course of the proceedings, Mangira was found to have unlawfully accessed his Kericho-based account and withdrawn Sh1.4 million. He was also ordered by the court to deposit the amount he withdrew within 14 days of the judgement.

Casual labourer

Who is Mangira? He was born in 1975. He dropped out of Migori Secondary School in Form One. He worked in Migori as a casual labourer before relocating to Nairobi's Marikiti to sell oranges in 1992.

In 1995, Mangira relocated to Migori to sell radio cassettes. In 1997, he dabbled in rice business buying and selling rice from Sirare. In 1998, he sold Bibles brought from the Bible Society in Kericho, as well as secondhand clothes.

Mangira, in 1999, got married and opened a salon business for his wife. In 2000, he bought a taxi vehicle operating it in Kericho until 2004, when he moved to Tala, in Machakos to buy and sell trees before moving back to Kericho. In 2006, Mangira started buying used cars and selling them.