Sh4m recovered from Kisumu con ritualist, suspect escapes police dragnet

The Sh4 million recovered by police in a ritualist's house in Kisumu on August 24, 2016. PHOTO | TOM OTIENO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Acting on a tip-off, the police managed to rescue a man from losing the colossal amount after he had already lost Sh1 million and was about to lose another Sh4 million on Wednesday evening.
  • The victim, Robert Otieno, had been asked by the ritualist to deliver Sh5 million in cash, which he was to give the witch-doctor at a posh house in Tom Mboya Estate, barely a kilometre from Kisumu town centre.

Police in Kisumu are hunting for a conman who has been masquerading as a ritualist capable of turning people’s fortunes and recovered Sh4 million.

Acting on a tip-off, the police managed to rescue a man from losing the colossal amount after he had already lost Sh1 million and was about to lose another Sh4 million on Wednesday evening.

Police officers stormed a dark room where the "witch-doctor" Musa Osman, popularly known as "Ndumba wa Ndumba" operates and recovered the money.

The suspect, who escaped the police dragnet, is said to have disappeared with the Sh1 million.

A witness, Hussein Isaac, who was in the compound at that time, said the officers came in at 3pm. There was only one client in the ritualist’s room at the time, he said.

“I was awakened by commotion when police stormed the house. It was at this point that the owner of the house escaped and I was left confused,” said Mr Isaac.

The ritualist's paraphernalia and photos of unknown people found in his house in Kisumu town on August 24, 2016 after a police raid. PHOTO | TOM OTIENO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

The victim, Robert Otieno, had been asked by the ritualist to deliver Sh5 million in cash, which he was to give the witch-doctor at a posh house in Tom Mboya Estate, barely a kilometre from Kisumu town centre.

Mr Otieno had also been instructed to come with a newly purchased refrigerator, which he had been told not to open for 36 days so he could experience a change in his troubled life.

He followed the instructions and then carried the refrigerator in the boot of his car, which has bee towed to the Kisumu Central Police Station.

Mr Otieno, a former banker undergoing domestic problems, had previously sold his parcel of land at Kanyakwar for Sh6 million to raise the amount demanded by the suspect, who promised to kiss his troubles goodbye.

“It had not hit me that I was being robbed. What was in my mind was that I was being prayed for because I have a myriad of problems,” said Mr Otieno.

He added: “When your pressure hits 180 or 200, you are not in the right sense of my mind and that is why I needed prayers.”

Witchcraft paraphernalia found in the ritualist's house, where Sh4 million was recovered by police in Kisumu on August 24, 2016. PHOTO | TOM OTIENO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Mr Otieno, who heard about the services of the spiritualist on radio, had also lost another Sh1.2 million three months ago to the same man, who had promised to sort out his problems.

Inside the four-bedroom bungalow, police found paraphernalia that the man used in his trade, people’s photographs, some foreign-currency notes and a book with the names of clients who had sought the suspect’s services.

Nyanza Regional Administration Commandant Joseph Chepkeitany was at the scene and displayed the bundle of notes that police had seized.

The ritualist is still at large.