The Kalonzo Musyoka You Don't Know Part IV: Witchcraft And Dark Forces

When Musikari Kombo was found guilty of committing an election offence in 1992 by consulting a witch doctor and engaging in superstitious activities prior to the elections that year, many Kenyans were taken aback but little did they realize that almost all members of parliament do this ahead of polls.

Kombo who was later elected as Ford Kenya leader after the death of Michael Kijana Wamalwa is known to come from the Bukusu sub tribe of the Luhyia community who are notorious for believing in witchcraft and in spite of going to church during the day, many of them usually engage in cult activities when the sun sets.

The Webuye MP is not the only presidential aspirant who regularly consults supernatural beings in the dead of the night as most of them are not leaving anything to chance including the so-called God-fearing Mwingi North MP and a hot favorite for the presidency, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka.

Musyoka hails from the Kamba community who are also well known for their belief in witchcraft not to mention that Musyoka's father is a powerful witchdoctor who lives alone in a tiny island along some river where it is said that all visitors have to strip naked when they visit him as one is prohibited to set foot on the island with their clothes on.

According to popular belief in the area, one is capable of hiding evil spirits or witchcraft paraphernalia under their clothes hence the rule of stripping naked when visiting a top witchdoctor.

Musyoka claims to be a strong adherent of the African Inland Church and will never miss a church service on Sunday but those who know him well say they have never met a public figure as superstitious as the soft-speaking Musyoka.

According to close allies of Musyoka , the presidential aspirant almost always travels in the company of another strong witchdoctor known as Wa Maiyo who passes as a nominated councilor from the Mwingi town council and an entertainer of sorts who has the gift of composing and singing political tunes in Musyoka's functions.

Wa Maiyo is respected and feared so much by Kalonzo's allies that some of Musyoka's close friends will not dare interrupt a conversation between Musyoka and the towering middle aged man who carries a walking stick with him all the time though he enjoys good health and has no problems with mobility.

According to those who have been closely following Musyoka's movements, the diminutive presidential aspirant takes his orders from the witchdoctor and will always consult him about his diary and has on some occasions warned Musyoka not to visit some places as his life would be endangered.

Musyoka, a lawyer by profession is said to have been introduced to the world of witchcraft at an early age (because of his father) but in politics this was solidified by the late powerful Machakos Kanu branch chairman Mulu Mutisya who was also his political godfather.

It all started in the 1980s when Musyoka made it to parliament in a by-election resulting from the death of the local MP Peter Manandu who was shot dead in a bar by a rogue administration policeman under some very strange and yet to be explained circumstances.

The now deceased, Mulu Mutisya is said to have traveled all the way to Mwingi and met Musyoka, a young lawyer who was trying into make inroads to politics. Mutisya was impressed by the young man's demeanor and his patience even for someone illiterate as Mutisya who never saw the inside of a classroom.

Prior to the by elections, Mutisya informed Musyoka that one had to seek supernatural protection from witchdoctors so as to avoid being bewitched by rivals during political campaigns. Musyoka understood this only too well. After all his father is in that trade although Musyoka was known to be much closer to his mother who died last year and barely spent anytime with his father who is still alive.

Musyoka is said to regularly consult these men of the night including a prominent witchdoctor who resides along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway known as Dr Willy who also doubled up as the late Mulu Mutisya's witchdoctor and seer. Those who consult him say that he is able to read one's future using his supernatural powers.

Just to show how politicians, especially those from Ukambani, are so deeply entrenched in witchcraft, when the late Yatta MP John Mutiso died after his car was swept by floods on his way home, among those in the ill-fated vehicle was a female witchdoctor and her paraphernalia who also died in the deluge.

It was later established that the woman was going to the MPs home to cleanse it from evil spirits ahead of a party that the legislator was hosting the following day to celebrate his victory to parliament.

When the local press broke the story a few days later, it is instructive that it was Kalonzo Musyoka himself (Mr President-to-be) who marshaled all the MPs from Ukambani to deny the story and dismissed any witchcraft link to the legislator's death. Musyoka also hit back hard at the media for portraying the Akamba as a superstitious people.

An interesting aside here is the fact that Kamba MPs do not like being linked to witchcraft any journalist who tries to do so will usually be treading on very dangerous ground indeed.

Musyoka's name came up in yet another witchcraft incident when former PS in the President's office Prof Philip Mbithi claimed that he was attacked by invisible beings while at his office in Harambee House. He blamed Kalonzo Musyoka and the late Mulu Mutisya for the attack (Read the full story for yourself).

It is evident that presidential aspirants, Musikari Kombo and Kalonzo Musyoka will not only pray to God as they go for the highest office in the land but are bound to also rely heavily on the so-called dark forces in their bid to convince Kenyans that they are the most suitable candidates to take over from president Kibaki.

The Final Part of The Kalonzo Musyoka You Do Not Know series will be published on Monday. Don't miss it.