on a lighter note (off-topic)
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:54 pm
Hi all,
thru all the tension, looting and ugliness that's going on in Kenya presently- there is a somewhat ironic item to lighten the mood. Read on.
Didi
======
Justice from the dark side
Standard Newspaper
Published on January 14, 2008, 12:00 am
By Khadija Yusuf and Elizabeth Awuor
MailScanner warning: numerical links are often malicious: http://216.180.252.4/archives/index.php ... &catid=349
When television screens flashed images of looters at the Coast returning property they had stolen, many Kenyans thought the world had been turned on its head.
But few Mombasa residents were surprised. Why? You may ask.
The Coast is today a complex patchwork of race, religions, tribes, languages, and customs.
Due to suspicions, superstitions, and taboos that have been with the coastal people for a long time, it was always necessary for the local people to protect their properties through black magic.
Stories are told of mermaids half human, half fish who turn into beautiful women at night and dance beautifully in pubs, and often leave embarrassed and confused men stranded in trees in the morning. Stories such as these force men to seek protection from witchdoctors.
The herbs and charms available at the Kenyan Coast are said to be so effective that some local people leave their business premises unattended either to visit friends or gossip and customers come and go without stealing even a one-shilling sweet.
Businessmen and traders also seek the intervention of the gods to make their business flourish and prosper. And if all goes well, they are in turn advised to offer sacrifices in form of human beings and animals to appease the gods.
It is also said that jinns are often used to make some of the communities resident at the Coast wealthy. To acquire massive wealth, one has to sacrifice a close and loved member of the family who would act as a mediator between the family's wealth and the jinns.
"Such families normally have a private room for performing rituals and it's a no go zone for outsiders. The room is normally dark and no lights is allowed to penetrate through," says a Jinn 'expert' in Mombasa.
Everyone in Mombasa knows about certain famous shops in Magongo, Kisauni and Kongowea areas that have never been broken into.
It is said that if a gang of thieves tries to break into the shops, they are met by the sight of an ocean and powerful winds that force them to abandon their mission and just hang around the 'beaches'. The spirits of the ocean are so attractive and addictive that many youths drop out of school and women abandon their hoes to just sit on the beaches and swim in the 'sea'.
Though such stories are often dismissed as myths meant to create fear in visitors, the events that followed the recent botched elections revealed a side of the Coast that few are aware of.
Black magic bears fruit
The drama that unfolded in the last week and a half has left many people in shock. It was a time when the use of black magic bore fruits and youths who had looted business premises made a beeline to return the stolen property.
The post-election looting spree appears to have turned tragic for a number of youths, who are said to have gone crazy. It is claimed that others suffered swollen stomachs after consuming stolen alcohol in various pubs in the villages around Mombasa.
People who raided a hardware shop and stole timber were seen in broad daylight returning it to avoid a 'curse'.
For fear of being arrested and embarrassed, some youths reportedly returned the timbers in the dead of the night.
Rumour is strong in Mombasa that youths who looted shops to protest against President Kibaki's second term in office were being haunted by demons.
Some had their private parts swollen and could not pass urine or stool and suffered distended stomachs. Others who looted expensive items such as TV sets, fridges and sofa sets got a nasty shock when the items got stuck to their heads and backs!
The story of men whose private parts swell into balloons is not new at the Coast. It is claimed that during the 1997 Kaya Bombo tribal clashes in Kwale District, police officers who raped women and children in the presence of their spouses and fathers, had their private parts swell beyond human imagination.
A youth who participated in the recent looting says he returned 20 pieces of timber on the night of Sunday last week after he was informed that the owner was going to seek the intervention of the gods to recover his goods.
"I could not stay with the stolen goods for another day. We have heard stories of people being crippled by dark forces or going crazy. My conscience just told me to return them and I did," he says.
Executive Furniture and Wood Works was one of the business premises in Mombasa that incurred huge losses in the looting spree.
The manager, Sebastian Wainaina, says they lost goods worth Sh15million during the post-election violence. "The workshop had over 100 pieces of furniture including sofa sets, wall units, dining tables and wardrobes that were all looted," he says.
The proprietor, he says, issued a seven-day ultimatum for the goods to be returned or he would take measures to punish the culprits.
Over the weekend some youths were seen pushing handcarts full of stolen goods returning them to the owners.
A 7am incident at Bamburi, on Mombasa's northern mainland, attracted a huge crowd of onlookers and motorists as youths pushed their way into the Executive Furniture workshop to return pieces of timber that they had stolen.
Mattress that spoke in the night
A Mombasa resident, Mariam Kukukali claims a number of youths who stole from a guesthouse in Magongo had their private parts swell like balloons and could not pass urine and stool after a curse was invoked against them.
"No hard working person would sit back and see his business ruined and do nothing about it. It is true witchdoctors are helping them to punish the culprits and we appeal to all the youths to return any stolen goods", said Ms Kukukali.
"Hizi dawa hazikawii. Mganga akisha fanya kazi yake, mara moja inaanza kazi," she says. (These charms work fast. After the witchdoctor does his work, they start working immediately.)
It has been claimed that the youth might even die if they failed to return the stolen goods.
In Magongo, Changamwe, it is claimed that youths who had looted television sets, mattresses and seats were horrified when they stuck to their backs and heads and would only come off if they returned them to their respective owners.
It is said that a man who stole a television set from a well known bar in Chaani had it rough as he spent close to four days walking around with the set on his shoulders.
The man was unable to sit comfortably or sleep because the TV would not leave his shoulders.
It is alleged that the man made several trips each day to the owner of the bar in the hope that he would break the spell but each time the owner just stared at him and laughed.
Another who allegedly stole a huge beefsteak from the pub's butchery fell asleep with the meat on his shoulders.
It is said he fell into a ditch while attempting to cross and slept for the rest of the day with the steak on his shoulders, as black crows celebrated over his head.
Another man who stole a mattress at a guesthouse in Chaani, Changamwe, was unable to use his new beddings.
At 2am, according to our sources, the man was awakened by a cry that was said to have originated from the mattress demanding to be returned to the guesthouse where it belongs.
A group of boys who stole a sack of coins in denominations of Sh10 and Sh20 got a rude shock when they were sharing the loot only to find that the coins had changed to 10 cents and five cents coins.
But the most dramatic scenario that shocked the rowdy youths was when they tried in vain to burn a house in Changamwe.
Armed with jerricans of petrol and paraffin and ready to set ablaze houses and pubs, the youths were flabbergasted when they tried to burn down a Swahili type house and the fire went out. Assuming that they had poured too little fuel, the youths added more and tried to light a fire but still the house would not burn.
"Their efforts were frustrated and they left in a hurry, calling the owner a witch," says a resident. It is said that many houses in Coast Province are protected. Owners can leave their doors open and no one will dare steal from them.
Some time back a man from upcountry is said to have visited friends in Mtwapa, Kilifi District. He was amazed at how coastal people were carefree about their houses to an extent of leaving doors ajar and walking away for miles.
In another incident, a man and his friends planned to raid a Swahili house that had beautiful antique furniture made of pinewood.
The raid turned out to be a merry-go-round process of loading and unloading the furniture until dawn!
Apart from homes, animals, particularly domestic ones, have become the major attention of locals in Mombasa.
Compared to other regions in the country where every herdsman attends to his cattle, goats and sheep, in Mombasa they are left to wander on their own without a shepherd. At night, they find their way back home.
Those who try to steal poultry such as ducks, chickens and doves find that the bird will not stop clucking or chirping in their stomachs until a confession is made and a sacrifice offered to remove the curse.
=======end.
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"easy access to the world"
thru all the tension, looting and ugliness that's going on in Kenya presently- there is a somewhat ironic item to lighten the mood. Read on.
Didi
======
Justice from the dark side
Standard Newspaper
Published on January 14, 2008, 12:00 am
By Khadija Yusuf and Elizabeth Awuor
MailScanner warning: numerical links are often malicious: http://216.180.252.4/archives/index.php ... &catid=349
When television screens flashed images of looters at the Coast returning property they had stolen, many Kenyans thought the world had been turned on its head.
But few Mombasa residents were surprised. Why? You may ask.
The Coast is today a complex patchwork of race, religions, tribes, languages, and customs.
Due to suspicions, superstitions, and taboos that have been with the coastal people for a long time, it was always necessary for the local people to protect their properties through black magic.
Stories are told of mermaids half human, half fish who turn into beautiful women at night and dance beautifully in pubs, and often leave embarrassed and confused men stranded in trees in the morning. Stories such as these force men to seek protection from witchdoctors.
The herbs and charms available at the Kenyan Coast are said to be so effective that some local people leave their business premises unattended either to visit friends or gossip and customers come and go without stealing even a one-shilling sweet.
Businessmen and traders also seek the intervention of the gods to make their business flourish and prosper. And if all goes well, they are in turn advised to offer sacrifices in form of human beings and animals to appease the gods.
It is also said that jinns are often used to make some of the communities resident at the Coast wealthy. To acquire massive wealth, one has to sacrifice a close and loved member of the family who would act as a mediator between the family's wealth and the jinns.
"Such families normally have a private room for performing rituals and it's a no go zone for outsiders. The room is normally dark and no lights is allowed to penetrate through," says a Jinn 'expert' in Mombasa.
Everyone in Mombasa knows about certain famous shops in Magongo, Kisauni and Kongowea areas that have never been broken into.
It is said that if a gang of thieves tries to break into the shops, they are met by the sight of an ocean and powerful winds that force them to abandon their mission and just hang around the 'beaches'. The spirits of the ocean are so attractive and addictive that many youths drop out of school and women abandon their hoes to just sit on the beaches and swim in the 'sea'.
Though such stories are often dismissed as myths meant to create fear in visitors, the events that followed the recent botched elections revealed a side of the Coast that few are aware of.
Black magic bears fruit
The drama that unfolded in the last week and a half has left many people in shock. It was a time when the use of black magic bore fruits and youths who had looted business premises made a beeline to return the stolen property.
The post-election looting spree appears to have turned tragic for a number of youths, who are said to have gone crazy. It is claimed that others suffered swollen stomachs after consuming stolen alcohol in various pubs in the villages around Mombasa.
People who raided a hardware shop and stole timber were seen in broad daylight returning it to avoid a 'curse'.
For fear of being arrested and embarrassed, some youths reportedly returned the timbers in the dead of the night.
Rumour is strong in Mombasa that youths who looted shops to protest against President Kibaki's second term in office were being haunted by demons.
Some had their private parts swollen and could not pass urine or stool and suffered distended stomachs. Others who looted expensive items such as TV sets, fridges and sofa sets got a nasty shock when the items got stuck to their heads and backs!
The story of men whose private parts swell into balloons is not new at the Coast. It is claimed that during the 1997 Kaya Bombo tribal clashes in Kwale District, police officers who raped women and children in the presence of their spouses and fathers, had their private parts swell beyond human imagination.
A youth who participated in the recent looting says he returned 20 pieces of timber on the night of Sunday last week after he was informed that the owner was going to seek the intervention of the gods to recover his goods.
"I could not stay with the stolen goods for another day. We have heard stories of people being crippled by dark forces or going crazy. My conscience just told me to return them and I did," he says.
Executive Furniture and Wood Works was one of the business premises in Mombasa that incurred huge losses in the looting spree.
The manager, Sebastian Wainaina, says they lost goods worth Sh15million during the post-election violence. "The workshop had over 100 pieces of furniture including sofa sets, wall units, dining tables and wardrobes that were all looted," he says.
The proprietor, he says, issued a seven-day ultimatum for the goods to be returned or he would take measures to punish the culprits.
Over the weekend some youths were seen pushing handcarts full of stolen goods returning them to the owners.
A 7am incident at Bamburi, on Mombasa's northern mainland, attracted a huge crowd of onlookers and motorists as youths pushed their way into the Executive Furniture workshop to return pieces of timber that they had stolen.
Mattress that spoke in the night
A Mombasa resident, Mariam Kukukali claims a number of youths who stole from a guesthouse in Magongo had their private parts swell like balloons and could not pass urine and stool after a curse was invoked against them.
"No hard working person would sit back and see his business ruined and do nothing about it. It is true witchdoctors are helping them to punish the culprits and we appeal to all the youths to return any stolen goods", said Ms Kukukali.
"Hizi dawa hazikawii. Mganga akisha fanya kazi yake, mara moja inaanza kazi," she says. (These charms work fast. After the witchdoctor does his work, they start working immediately.)
It has been claimed that the youth might even die if they failed to return the stolen goods.
In Magongo, Changamwe, it is claimed that youths who had looted television sets, mattresses and seats were horrified when they stuck to their backs and heads and would only come off if they returned them to their respective owners.
It is said that a man who stole a television set from a well known bar in Chaani had it rough as he spent close to four days walking around with the set on his shoulders.
The man was unable to sit comfortably or sleep because the TV would not leave his shoulders.
It is alleged that the man made several trips each day to the owner of the bar in the hope that he would break the spell but each time the owner just stared at him and laughed.
Another who allegedly stole a huge beefsteak from the pub's butchery fell asleep with the meat on his shoulders.
It is said he fell into a ditch while attempting to cross and slept for the rest of the day with the steak on his shoulders, as black crows celebrated over his head.
Another man who stole a mattress at a guesthouse in Chaani, Changamwe, was unable to use his new beddings.
At 2am, according to our sources, the man was awakened by a cry that was said to have originated from the mattress demanding to be returned to the guesthouse where it belongs.
A group of boys who stole a sack of coins in denominations of Sh10 and Sh20 got a rude shock when they were sharing the loot only to find that the coins had changed to 10 cents and five cents coins.
But the most dramatic scenario that shocked the rowdy youths was when they tried in vain to burn a house in Changamwe.
Armed with jerricans of petrol and paraffin and ready to set ablaze houses and pubs, the youths were flabbergasted when they tried to burn down a Swahili type house and the fire went out. Assuming that they had poured too little fuel, the youths added more and tried to light a fire but still the house would not burn.
"Their efforts were frustrated and they left in a hurry, calling the owner a witch," says a resident. It is said that many houses in Coast Province are protected. Owners can leave their doors open and no one will dare steal from them.
Some time back a man from upcountry is said to have visited friends in Mtwapa, Kilifi District. He was amazed at how coastal people were carefree about their houses to an extent of leaving doors ajar and walking away for miles.
In another incident, a man and his friends planned to raid a Swahili house that had beautiful antique furniture made of pinewood.
The raid turned out to be a merry-go-round process of loading and unloading the furniture until dawn!
Apart from homes, animals, particularly domestic ones, have become the major attention of locals in Mombasa.
Compared to other regions in the country where every herdsman attends to his cattle, goats and sheep, in Mombasa they are left to wander on their own without a shepherd. At night, they find their way back home.
Those who try to steal poultry such as ducks, chickens and doves find that the bird will not stop clucking or chirping in their stomachs until a confession is made and a sacrifice offered to remove the curse.
=======end.
--------------------------------------------------
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner , and is
believed to be clean.
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"easy access to the world"