Kenyan accused of witchcraft and then murdered for land in Kilifi

BBC Africa Eye investigates a shocking series of cases of elderly people accused of witchcraft and subsequently murdered on Kenya’s Kilifi coast, and uncovers the real motives behind the killings.

Tambala Jefwa, 74, stares blankly into the camera with his one remaining eye while his wife Sidi carefully takes off his shirt.

“They stabbed and pulled him with a knife like that,” she says, pointing to the long scar that stretches down from his collarbone.

She takes his head in her hands and shows what happened during another attack. “They had to pull back the scalp and sew it together.”

Accused of being a witch, Mr Jefwa was attacked twice in his home, 80km inland from the coastal town of Malindi. In the first attack, he lost an eye. In the second attack, he almost died.

The couple owns more than 30 hectares of land where they grow maize and keep a few chickens. There was a dispute with family members over the boundaries. They believe this was the real reason Mr Jefwa was almost killed, not that people genuinely believed he was killed. a witch.

“They left me to die. I lost so much blood. I don’t know why they attacked me, but it can only be on the ground,” says Mr Jefwa.

Belief in witchcraft and superstition is widespread in many countries.

But in parts of Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa, this accusation can be used to justify killing old people to take away their land.

A report by Kenyan human rights organisation Haki Yetu, entitled “The Aged, on Edge”, says that every week an elderly person is murdered on the Kilifi coast in the name of witchcraft. The programme’s director, Julius Wanyama, says many families believe one of their own is ordering the killing.

“They use the word witchcraft as a justification because it will gain the sympathy of the public. And people will say, ‘If he was a witch, it’s good that you killed him.'”

Few people in this region have title to their land. Since they do not have a will, they rely on the land being passed down through the family as usual. According to Wanyama, seven out of ten of those killed are elderly men, as they own the land and can inherit it.

“Historically, people here in Kilifi have no (land) documents. The only document they have is the life story of these elderly people. That is why it is mainly men who are killed because if you kill them, the obstacle is removed,” says Mr Wanyama.

About an hour’s drive from the Jefwa family’s land is a rescue centre for the elderly run by the Malindi District Association charity.

It is home to around 30 elderly people who have been attacked and are unable to return to their homeland.

63-year-old Katana Chara, who looks much older than his age, has been here for about 12 months.

He was forced to move to the centre after being attacked with a machete in his bedroom in April 2023. One hand was severed at the wrist and the other just above the elbow. He can no longer work and needs help with the most basic tasks, from feeding and washing to dressing.

“I know the person who cut my hands, but we have never met in person since then,” he says.

Mr Chara was accused of witchcraft over the death of another man’s child, but he believes the real reason for the attack was his 6 acres of land.

“I have nothing to do with witchcraft. I have a piece of land and it’s right by the sea. It’s a big piece of land.”

Many of Mr Chara’s family members have been questioned about the attack, but no one has been prosecuted. Activist Mr Wanyama is trying to get justice for him.

“Very few people have been charged with killing elderly people. And that’s why I think even the key people involved in the killings feel free.”

After months of investigation, BBC Africa Eye managed to track down a former contract killer who claims to have killed around 20 people. He says the minimum salary he received for each murder was 50,000 Kenyan shillings – around $400 (£310).

“If someone kills an elderly person, you have to know that their family paid for it. It has to be their family,” he tells BBC Africa Eye.

When asked how and why he believed he had the right to take someone’s life, he replied: “Perhaps I did something bad, because I was given the task and I am the one who killed, but according to the laws and God’s ideas, the one who sent me is guilty.”

The Kenyan National Human Rights Commission submitted a document to the United Nations in February 2023 stating: “Witch burnings, witch killings and physical attacks are widespread in regions such as Kisii in western Kenya and Kilifi County on the Kenya coast.”

It added that the desire of younger family members to acquire family land was a major motive for the killings. It said the attacks and killings increased during periods of drought and famine when sources of income became scarce.

Mr Wanyama says killings using accusations of witchcraft as justification for land theft have become a “national disaster”.

“It started as a regional problem, but now it has escalated… If we don’t deal with it, we will lose our archives on older people. These are the only living archives we can trust.”

In traditional African culture, older people are revered for their wisdom and knowledge.

In Kilifi, the situation is the other way around. Older people are so afraid of becoming victims of attacks that they dye their hair to look younger.

It is rare for someone in this region to survive an accusation of witchcraft.

While Mr Chara is now safe and living in a rescue centre for the elderly, there is a real fear for men like Mr Jefwa that whoever tried to murder him will come back.