Kilifi leaders: genital-vanishing rumours used to provoke attacks and extort cash
Key points
- Kilifi leaders on Monday 17 August 2026 linked rumours that a person can make another’s genitals vanish to attacks, deaths, smashed property and extortion.
- Governor Gideon Mung’aro said doctors who examined complainants found the body parts still intact; he called the claims a tactic to kill and spread fear.
- Kilifi North MP Owen Baya cited a Matsangoni case: a man withdrew Sh100,000, was asked for Sh2,000, then publicly accused after he refused.
- Bishop Amos Lewa (Joy Fellowship; Kilifi County Religious Council) said it is scientifically impossible unless someone physically severs the organs; a father and 19-year-old son were jailed after assaulting a woman they accused.
Monday in Kilifi the warning was not about witchcraft. It was about a rumour that has already put people in the ground. Governor Gideon Mung’aro, Kilifi North MP Owen Baya and Bishop Amos Lewa said claims that a touch on the shoulder can make a man’s genitals disappear were driving assaults, two deaths on the outskirts of Kilifi town, property losses put at millions of shillings, and cash shakedowns, Eastleigh Voice reported on 17 August 2026.
Mung’aro said some men who reported a “vanishing” after being touched were sent to doctors; the organs were still there. “This is a new tactic being used by people who want to kill others and create fear among our people. There is nothing like that.” He told residents to stop mob justice and take suspects to police. Baya described a recent Matsangoni incident: a man withdrew Sh100,000, an accuser demanded Sh2,000, and when he refused the accuser raised an alarm in public. “These claims are misleading and are becoming a new way of extorting money from people.” Lewa, who chairs the Kilifi County Religious Council, said: “There is no evidence that anyone can make another person’s sensitive body parts disappear. It is scientifically impossible unless someone chops them physically.” He also warned of people posing as preachers. In a separate file a Kilifi father and his 19-year-old son were imprisoned after beating a woman they accused. Two people accused in the outskirts cases were reported dead. A rumour is not a charge sheet — NPS still has to name the dead, the jailed pair and the Matsangoni suspects.
A panic story is not a police exhibit
Sh2,000 after a Sh100,000 withdrawal is a theft file if the facts hold. IPOA and Kilifi police should treat the two deaths as homicides, not “community tension.”
Crime desk: Crime. Verified 17 August remarks, Matsangoni figures, 19-year-old jail case and two reported deaths from Eastleigh Voice.
County should publish a named casualty and court list. Religious councils should stop unpaid “healers” who collect fees on the same rumour.
Residents should walk a complainant to a clinic and a police desk, not to a crowd.
Readers should cross-check any deadline, fee, court date or programme claim against primary gazettes, agency circulars and court records before acting on this report.
Official gazettes, court rulings and agency circulars may update these facts after publication; readers should verify any deadline, fee or court date against primary sources before acting.
Based on Eastleigh Voice reporting of Monday Kilifi briefings. Death and jail counts can be revised by police and courts.
