When Atheists in Kenya sought to register their society, Kenyans from all spheres of life were up in arms against the 'satanic' organisation which would compromise Kenya's ‘godliness’.
Though Kenya is constitutionally a secular state that guarantees every citizen freedom of worship and association, the argument that Kenya is a 'godly country' finally won as the AG's office suspended the registration for 'wider consultation'.
This is, however, not the problem as the country seems to play double standards when it comes to matters religion. If indeed Kenya is that so much for God, then you would not expect a large section of Kenyans to be corrosively superstitious. This was evident when it was alleged that murdered city billionaire Jacob Juma would be buried with a torch and a knife apparently to avenge his death.
Juma's family through his elder brother Gershon Wesonga indeed confirmed this.
"In the grave, we shall tell Juma that, 'You alone know the persons who killed you. Deal with them like a man. Don't allow them to rest until they pay up for this murder'," Wesonga told the Nairobian before Juma was buried last week on Saturday.
The ritual in Bukusu is known as 'Okhusalisia' and according to Wesonga, it would ensure that Juma's killers were followed wherever they were. They would, Wesonga said, start paying for their heinous acts once the torch he was buried with when lit goes off.
"Some will become mad, some will be run over by cars and those who fly could end up dying when the aircraft they are flying in catch fire in the sky and burn," added Wesonga.
Fast-forward to less than a week later after Juma's burial, apparently the said torch has gone off and Juma's killers have indeed 'started to pay off for their sin' as the ritual promised. Excitement by some Kenyans on social media was rife on good part of Thursday as they claimed that Juma's torch had finally went off.
It all started with a nasty rumour from a popular city blogger that DP William Ruto had collapsed at his house and rushed to Nairobi Hospital. It, however, turned out later to have been just an unfounded rumour, though the damage had already been done.
Though social media is not a representative of Kenya in its entirety, many can agree that superstition among Kenyans is rife.