‘Witches’ Burnt to Death in Kenya
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BBC News, May 21, 2008
Eleven elderly people accused of being witches have been burned to death by a mob in the west of Kenya, police say.
A security operation has been launched to hunt down villagers suspected of killing them in Kisii District.
The BBC’s Muliro Telewa in the region says the gang had a list of the victims and picked them out individually.
The area has witnessed similar attacks in the past when people suspected of engaging in witchcraft have been killed or ostracised.
But our reporter says that this is a surprisingly large number of people to be attacked at the same time.
‘Witches meeting’
Anthony Kibunguchy, the provincial police officer, told the BBC that the eight women and three men were all aged between 80 and 96 years old.
The mob dragged them out of their houses and burned them individually and then set their homes alight, our correspondent says.
Residents have been ambivalent about condemning the attacks because belief in witchcraft is widespread in the area, he says.
But local official Mwangi Ngunyi spoke out against the murders.
“People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspect someone,” he told AFP news agency.
Villagers told reporters that they had evidence that the victims were witches.
They say they found an exercise book at a local primary school that contained the minutes of a “witches’ meeting” which detailed who was going to be bewitched next.
The victim’s families have gone into hiding, fearing for their lives.
(Posted on May 21, 2008)
Comments
The original artilce stated that the witchs were blamed for making bright children dumb.James Watson must apologize to the continent of Africa for blameing genetics for the low intelligence of Africans.They have proved to be intelligent enough to figure out that witch craft in the cause of the low intelligence of blacks. On the other hand could Barack Obama be using witch craft to get white people to vote for him.Otherwise how could so many white people be so dumb as to vote for a black man who hates them.
Posted by Tony Soprano at 6:54 PM on May 21
This is another quaint African custom designed to relieve society of the problem of the elderly. This is a way to relieve society of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, dependence of the elderly on young people for maintenance, excess health care spending, etc. Just one more piece of evidence that demonstrates how superior black African culture is to our backward, wicked, White ways!
Posted by at 6:59 PM on May 21
That has to be a horrible way to die, especially at the hands of “brothers”.
Posted by Lars at 8:20 PM on May 21
As time goes on, I have a hard time telling whether the Africans are regressing away from the rest of the world’s standards of civilized behavior, or if they never got there in the first place.
Posted by ZKR at 8:27 PM on May 21
These are murders based on superstition, ignorance, and let’s face it, mental illness so widespread that their society has no basis for normal, by which they might tell the difference.
But the other side of that coin is that “witchcraft”, belief in dark powers and very evil behavior associated with it, are widespread.
Put another way, it is not surprising that people who believe in dark, demonic magic might act this way, when others who believe in that stuff also, are kidnapping people and dismembering them to use the body parts in some dark ritual.
There is a LARGE element of truth to the accusations of witchcraft. But not of dark powers, but of practitioners of that nonsense who commit heinous acts of ritual murder and other equally disgusting and evil acts. Throw in a healthy amount of ignorance into the situation and it is explosive.
But what is important to take away from this is that these people are COMPLETELY incompatible with OUR way of life and should not be allowed anywhere near the western world.
Failure to understand this will result both in ritualistic murders and other evil taking place in OUR communities AND these people burning others at the stake because they fear the “dark powers” of people they suspect of being witches.
Posted by at 9:19 PM on May 21
“As time goes on, I have a hard time telling whether the Africans are regressing away from the rest of the world’s standards of civilized behavior, or if they never got there in the first place.”
Indeed, ZKR, take a look African behaviour in America, Canada, Britain,Europe, and ask yourself the same question.
Posted by Cliff Yablonski at 9:47 PM on May 21
But local official Mwangi Ngunyi spoke out against the murders.
“People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspect someone,” he told AFP news agency.
“Villagers told reporters that they had evidence that the victims were witches.”
Some people in Africa appear to have a western sense of justice, however. Some will admit that until evidence is submitted that these people are witches they should not be punished.
Posted by William Hendershot at 9:49 PM on May 21
Oh keep on sending them here so they can do that in downtown NYC …you morons in washington….take a hard look at our future!!
Posted by lydia at 10:13 PM on May 21
I find white middle class frequently amazed when I tell them about the South African ritual of ‘necklacing’. Thats where you put the burning tire filled w/ gasoline around an enemies neck.
Posted by toonces at 11:00 PM on May 21
It is Africa stupid, a continent where much is now sliding back to the days before the Europeans arrived (except for the Mercedes Benz’s, Lamborghini’s, etc)with average life expectancies reducing back to the middle thirties (years) and power stations failing due to lack of fuel, i.e. coal which “affirmative action” - black owned and operated transport companies awarded the contracts seem to always have an excuse as to why they cannot get the mined coal (opencast, just 20 to 30 feet below the surface) from the piles at the mines to the piles at the power stations. And much , much more.
I lived there for 24 years until 1999 and they were still burning “witches” occasionally in South Africa then. Bank robbers are given special “muti” (a witch’s supplied protection) that would ensure the police’s bullets would turn to water before they hit them as they robbed banks and so on using AK 47s etc.
The whites were accused of racism with the plan called Apartheid to prevent all the current problems and to allow them to develop at their own pace while governing themselves, but now they are killing and burning foreigners in their homes because they are not South Africans and they are “stealing their jobs” - with a reported 40% unemployment rate now. Never happened before under the old government although the government used to have to stop them murdering each other due to tribal differences.
Sure, they are ready for freedom. Let them get on with it, but expect soon demands for food as “we are suffering because the wicked West has caused global warming that has destroyed our (non-planted) crops”.
It could have been a wonderful continent eventually if the Marxists had kept out.
Posted by Brian J Deller at 11:46 PM on May 21
Having lived in my South for most of life, I can tell you that superstition is alive and well in the African American community down here. While witches are not burned, black magic and lucky charms are widely believed in. Voodoo and Hoodoo came out of Africa and are part of every large black community in the African Diaspora—I suspect even in Central Europe and other unexpected places.
Posted by Sardonicus at 8:01 AM on May 22
Bit by bit, step by step, sub-Saharan Africa is returning to its pre-European contact era. This is actually a natural state of affairs for the continent.
Posted by at 8:11 AM on May 22
Not to worry, friends! Should the OBAMINATION get into the White House, we’ll be importing millions of fine, decent, intelligent, hardworking Kenyans… and we’ll have witch burnings in a community near you!
Africans have been racial failures since the beginning of time. Ten thousand years from now, these same kind of stories will still surface in the news from time to time. As those about modern-day cannibalism, children and adults murdered to obtain body parts for magic rituals… and so on and so forth.
Posted by Fed Up at 9:10 AM on May 22
Picking on the elderly would be a “hate” crime in the developed West.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 11:43 AM on May 22
Yes, this sounds positively medeival. However, I sometimes have to wonder what would happen if a seperate White/Christian nation should emerge. From comments I read on Amren far too often, it sounds as if we would be also “burning witches” and Jews. A return to what some might think of as “the good old days” is not so different from this common mentality we see in Africa.
Posted by Whiteplight at 2:18 PM on May 22
“all aged between 80 and 96 years old.”
They certainly must have been practicing magic of some sorts to live that long in black Africa - where the life expectancy is 40-50.
Posted by jewamongyou at 3:16 PM on May 22
“Voodoo and Hoodoo came out of Africa and are part of every large black community in the African Diaspora—I suspect even in Central Europe and other unexpected places.”
Posted by Sardonicus at 8:01 AM on May 22
Please take my comments below as constructive and not an insult!
> “I Suspect” - those have always been the operative words! Read up on it. Indigenous European whites who practiced their own original religion in Europe were routinely burned as witches and heritics during the time before, during and after the era of the Inquisition (which occured all over Europe, not just Spain). Study Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of the Witches) and discussions on it (easy to do online) and you will learn that even being a mid-wife could bring charges of witchcraft because the old healer midwives of Europe used an ancient European wisdom that got its inspiration from pre-Christian European religion. Christianity first conquered the royal courts and cities of Europe. The conversion of the countrysides was very slow and required violence and a system (the Inquisition) to “root out the devil.” The Malleus Malefacarum was the guide book of the time and was used in identifying, torturing confessions, and executing witches and other heretics. Europeans before Christianity had no knowledge or character of a “Satan,” just a system of belief that included the differentiated between right and wrong. It is Christians actually who believe in “Satan.” Moreover, Witch Hunting became an industry in Europe since the judges and executioners were awarded the worldly goods of the condemned and in a special Church created a child less than ten years old could witness to witchcraft. There are records of women being accused by children just because they didn’t like her. A man was accused and condemned because a neighbors beer went sour. Anything that could get the wheel turning a a village was accepted. Many small villages up to middle sized towns were destroyed completely or nearly completely as the Inquisition swept through Europe. France and Germany were heavily affected by this activity. There was an added charge to this activity in the late middle age due to an alleged influence from Africa, but it’s origin was never fixed. The Albigensian Crusade of the 13th century carried the same set of general charges as did Joan of Arc in the 15th century. Since the “Cathar Heresy” had its origin in Egypt (Alexandria) the association with other African influences, including Islam were not necessarily differentiated. (By the way, the entire log of Jean d’Arc is available and her intelligence and courage is very clear. She was only 19 years old when tried and convicted, and she was supposedly a peasant).
The hoodoo and voodoo you must be referring to came along with slaves that Europeans brought to the New World, where it is still practiced. That occurred later and did not have much of an impact in Europe. Superstition has always been high in many places in Europe, and especially Eastern Europe and has little or nothing to do with African influences. Even the Apostle Paul notes it in his espistles. (Interesting since he was relying on supersititon to sell his new religion). I noted it during my time living in Eastern Europe. South Central Europeans are incredibly superstitious people - especially Catholics!
The danger of shortcircuiting knowledge and history to make a conclusion always leads to ignorance, and ignorance never saved a people - only plunges them into violence and self destruction -and that includes White Seperatists.
Posted by Whiteplight at 3:17 PM on May 22
The region of the country is mainly populated by the Luo tribe, proud progenitors of a potential American president. It is a pity that Kenya is not as progressive as Zimbabwe, where the practice of witchcraft was proscribed only last year.
Posted by ciccio at 5:25 PM on May 22
Ill never forget talking to an (employed) adult black male back in Springfield Illinois about 20 years ago. He stated that he was riding in a bus and the women sitting next to him said she was the devil. I said ‘did you believe her’?..he replied, ‘why yes, because she let me feel the horns on her head’. He was deadly serious.
Posted by toonces at 7:29 PM on May 22
There is no doubt that withcraft or supernatural powers do exist! However, just because a person is a suspect of such indulgences does not grant anyone the right to take their life. Life is precious and divine and should not be taken for any reason, by a fellow human being.
Regarding a difference in the practices in developed and developing countries, I find executions by judges in the Western world comparable to the recent occurrence in Kenya. Just because execution has a penal code in the Western world and burning witches does not have a penal code in Kenya doesn’t make it significantly different. I would be right to assume that innocent people have been executed, just the way the innocent have been sentenced to life and jail time.
Posted by at 8:45 PM on May 23
“Superstition has always been high in many places in Europe, and especially Eastern Europe and has little or nothing to do with African influences. Even the Apostle Paul notes it in his espistles. (Interesting since he was relying on supersititon to sell his new religion). I noted it during my time living in Eastern Europe. South Central Europeans are incredibly superstitious people - especially CatholiI think you miss my point Whiteplight.
I think you misunderstood that point of that statement. I never said that superstition was extinct from Europe; but Europe is no longer in the Middle Ages, whereas Africa is still burning witches in 2008 A.D.! Africans have retained these animistic beliefs for untold centuries, and they are current whereever you find significant numbers of Africans, whether they are living in Brazil or the Czech Republic. Obviously, I wasn’t inferring that Africans had caused the Albigensian Crusade or the Witchcraft hysteria of the Middle Ages that would be quite ridiculous. I have read the Malleus Malefacarum and many other works on witchcraft and the occult.
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Posted by Sardonicus at 2:28 PM on May 25