KENYA:A MOB of angry villagers has burned to death 11 elderly people accused of witchcraft in western Kenya.
Local officials and villagers said about 100 people went from house to house in Nyakeo village on Tuesday evening tying up the victims before setting them ablaze.They used a list to identify eight women and three men all aged over 70.
The village is about 180 miles west of Nairobi in an area populated by the Kisii tribe nicknamed the sorcery belt.
Enoch Obiero, a pastor and one of the grieving husbands, said: "I can't believe my wife of many years would be killed so brutally by people who cannot prove their case even before God." Villagers said they blamed the witches for a spate of deaths and illnesses.
Mwangi Ngunyi, the local government representative, promised that police would hunt down the suspects who also torched 50 houses. "This is unacceptable. People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspected someone," he said.
While most Kenyans consider themselves Christian or Muslim, traditional animist systems of belief live on in many rural areas of the country. Ailments are treated by witchdoctors and scores are settled with curses.
During the wave of violence that struck Kenya, thousands of pounds of stolen goods were returned after shop owners placed a curse on looters. And the power of witchcraft is believed to be so strong that candidates in elections are banned from turning to the occult.
College students and professional athletes have also been known to consult witch doctors.
Yesterday, there was only shock and grief at the killings. "My mother has always been a role model to the entire village and why the mob had to kill her will remain a mystery to me forever," said Emily Monari (32).