Nyanya Mbodze, 72, sits quietly on her hospital bed slowly massaging her swollen left hand fingers with her right hand, which is bandaged on the forearm after sustaining a gush from a panga.
The same left hand has another bandage on the upper arm, covering a wound caused by a knife. Her face has bruises on the nose and forehead from being dragged on a hard surface.
She also has a broken right leg that is in a cast and on her left side of the head, she has stitches to hold a wound inflicted after she was hit by a rungu. As she kept massaging her fingers, tears roll down her cheeks, as she appears bewildered.
These were the visible bruises on Nyanya Mbodze, when HAKI Africa officials visited her earlier this week at the Kilifi Hospital. Reports indicated she was attacked by members of her family, including her two sons and grandchildren, who wanted her dead the previous night.
They accused her of engaging in witchcraft and being responsible for her husband’s death a year ago.
They also blamed her for a series of misfortunes that happened in the area over the last few months, including motor vehicle accidents reported on the busy Mombasa Malindi highway in which several people were reported to have died.
On being approached, Nyanya Mbodze quickly dries her eyes with a bed sheet and tries to put on a brave face. When questioned about what happened, she first appears hesitant to speak.
When informed that the previous night’s incident is known and is what has led HAKI Africa to her, she again slowly and silently begins to weep. Her first words are that she doesn’t want any harm to come in the way of her children and those involved in the incident. She adds that at her age, she has become a burden but swears that at no point has she ever been involved in witchcraft.
After being assured that no one is going to suffer any consequences, if she does not press charges, she goes on to confide in the officers that she is a victim of the property that was left behind by her late husband — a seven-acre land in Dzikunze, Kilifi county, and a farm house hosting three cows and some goats.
She went on to say her children, particularly the two sons, have been on her case to subdivide the land and give it to them. However, considering the two sons are perpetual drunkards, she fears that after doing so, they will sell off the land leaving her and her three daughters homeless.
Unfortunately, this is the reality facing many older men and women in Kilifi and other parts of the Coast region. They are victims of their property, which is being sought after by their children, grandchildren and other relatives.
Remaining alive and well at an old age has become taboo at the Coast and as soon as grey hair starts appearing, one becomes a possible victim of witchcraft allegations. In the process, many elderly men and women have lost their lives over the years at the hands of greedy and lazy children, who want to inherit and not work hard enough to acquire their own property through sweat.
Through the area MP, Teddy Mwambire, a rescue centre for the elderly has been set up in Kilifi to rescue the elderly who are targeted by their relatives on allegations of engaging in witchcraft.
While this is commendable, the issue of relatives who then go on to take charge of property of the elderly still remains unresolved. It is not prudent to allow lazy relatives to easily take over what belongs to the elderly. Local communities, county and national governments must urgently intervene and address this issue to ensure safety and protection of the elderly and their property.
Article 40 of the Constitution guarantees every Kenyan the right to own property.
The elderly, too, have this right and must be protected from the greed of their kin, who intentionally wrongly accuse them of engaging in witchcraft and go on to murder them.
