Deformed goat causes stir in village

By Maureen Mudi

After the Sunday Standard and KTN broke the story of a goat born with human features eight days ago, a grisly drama was played out in Jitoni village at Jomvu, Mombasa.

Recovering quickly from their shock and horror, some villagers decided to make a quick buck from the phenomenon.

Youths from the area exhumed the dead goat despite pleas from the owner and started charging Sh20 for a view of the spectacle.

Left: A woman kneels down in prayers after seeing the strange creature. Above: The owner of the goat, Kalisho, shows the deformed animal to the media and fellow villagers. Photos: Maarufu Mohammed/ Standard

They turned one of their houses into a showroom and started charging the many people who came to the village eager to witness the spectacle.

It is said that they made over Sh2,000 although many people pleaded to be allowed to view the animal for free.

Business opportunity

Earlier, business was brought to a standstill by a standoff between the goat’s owner, Mwenda Kalisho, and the rowdy youths who were out to make a killing from the ‘discovery’.

Kalisho was against the exhumation, pleading that it would bring down a curse on the village.

The incident caused panic, confusion and disbelief as the villagers hazarding explanations as to what could have caused the animal to be born with such deformities.

When journalists got there, the youths had exhumed the animal from where Kalisho had buried it live and were demanding to be paid at least Sh500 by anyone wishing to view it.

"We will not remove the goat from this sack unless you give us some money," they shouted as they ran around the village with the creature.

It was like a scene from a Nigerian horror movie with villagers, especially children, running after the youths demanding to see the creature that had injected rare life into the normally sleepy village.

The struggle

When Kalisho got wind of what the youths were doing, she came to the scene and a struggle ensued. With sweat dripping down her making her clothes cling to her in sweltering heat, Kalisho struggled with the young men and finally managed to retrieve the animal.

The strange creature had a face similar to that of a human being with a humanoid nose, mouth and tongue. One of the forelimbs was extraordinarily heavy. Its private parts, which are said to resemble those of human being, were cut off and buried separately.

According to Kalisho, the creature was born at midnight at her house but she had to ask for help when it proved too large to be delivered normally.

The widow and mother of 11 said the kid’s mother, which is still alive, has had three other normal offspring. She owns 25 goats. "The head came out first along with a foreleg and we thought it was too hairy and the private parts too big," she says.

A neighbour, Saidi Ramadhan, says the kid was buried alive.

Some people broke down and wailed and uttering prayers, claiming such strange things pointed to the end of the world.

They asked the person responsible for the birth to own up and admit to impregnating the goat.

Ramadhan however downplays the incident pointing out that the kid’s mother had given birth to healthy animals before.

"This is just God’s work. We should not blame anyone since we have no evidence that any human being was responsible," he says.