Lucky escape after woman’s name was found in ‘witch committee’ list

Seventy-four-year-old Agnes Moraa is lucky to be alive. On July 18, armed youths raided her homestead and burnt down two houses following allegations that she was a witch.

Moraa’s name alongside that of her husband, Mr Nyaoma Kioge, was in a book allegedly belonging to the “Executive Committee of Witches and Sorcerers” in Manga District, which was found on a roadside.

The information in the book indicated that she was the treasurer of the sorcerers and witches committee and it also contained 40 names of people from the area who were allegedly targeted for elimination.

YOUTHS DESCENDED ON Moraa’s home in Nyakongo village along with those of four others said to belong to the committee, and looted them before setting houses and other property on fire.

Five houses were razed and property of unknown value destroyed before the police arrived. Officers led by Nyamira police chief Robert Atwoli had to fire several times in the air to disperse the rowdy youths who pelted them with stones. Nineteen people were arrested and arraigned in court.

At the time her homestead was attacked, Moraa was in Nairobi visiting her son. “When I travelled back home I could not believe my eyes when I saw the destruction in my home,” she said during an interview with the Nation recently.

SHE IS AMONG HUNDREDS of people in Kisii who have either lost their lives or property or are living in fear after being accused of witchcraft and other crimes without any tangible evidence.

Moraa said she had quarrelled with one of her relatives over land before travelling to Nairobi, a move she believes prompted her name to be listed among suspected witches.

Area MP Walter Nyambati recently concurred with the elderly woman, saying those attacked in Nyaikuro three weeks ago either had land disputes or other personal differences with the aggressors.