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When unpredictable and unfortunate outcome is all an individual gets from everything they put their hands on, there are only two possibilities.

Realists might just call them clumsy or careless, but in many African cultures this is an indication that there is a strong and evil omen trailing your life.

 But just how true is this belief and what causes such bad luck in a person’s life?

Mombasa-based radio presenter, Gaspery Tumaini from Kaloleni, says among the Giriama, his tribe, the meaning of a name given to children can manifest in their life and into adulthood. The manifestation of these names into reality is known as Kukoreza.

“Bad luck can be caused by names given by parents; for instance, names such as “Taabu,” which means difficulty, and which is given depending on the circumstances surrounding a child’s birth.

Many people don’t understand these evil things start to manifest as people continue to call the child that name.

When people born during difficult seasons such as during a famine are given names depicting the situation, it takes away their fortune as they grow,” says Tumaini.

Cultural rituals

He says, for example, people called ‘Kashinda Aganga’- a name that indicates a situation proved difficult for traditional healers, will always have problems in their lives, especially sickness. In contrast, his name Tumaini means hope, implies that his life would be filled with hope and good tidings. 

Suleiman Nyembwe, a Digo elder from Kwale, says bad luck is not news amongst the Mijikenda; ranging from as wide as a whole tribe being associated with terrible luck and believed to bring bad omen for those who get married to the members of that community, to people born with an evil eye that can cause misfortune on anyone they do not like. 

“If you marry or have intercourse with someone from such a tribe, everything you own goes to waste. If you had livestock, they can start dying.

Fortunately, there are rituals that can be done to counter this. After intercourse, you have to pull pieces of thread from the bedding you were lying on and put them in your pocket.

Once you reach home, pull it out throw them in your house and step on them. This is a way of neutralising the omen that would have befallen you,” he explains.

He also says there are people born with Dege (a bad eye) who can ruin things for people around them, especially if they are not fond of you. 

“A mere look at you could cause you to fall ill. If you were eating, your tummy immediately starts to hurt and it could be so bad it kills,” shares Mzee Suleiman. 

Rituals are also not a strange thing for the Kikuyu, according to traditional elder Muguro wa Gitau, who says evil luck is unnatural. 

“In most cases, it’s a result of a spell cast on you by somebody, most probably one who you are related to by blood.

Other cases stem from curses by a parent, a grandparent or somebody in your bloodline. In the instance of a spell, it would be removed by the help of a witchdoctor known as Muraguri, through a form of a ritual done on the victim. On curses, this rarely have a respite, especially if the one who left the curse is dead,” he adds. 

However, if the person who proclaimed the curse is still alive, the victim would seek the elders’ help to pursue them to unsay the curse.

If they agree, they usually dictate conditions for this. Similarly, a form of a ritual would also be performed. Such rituals involved the slaughter of animals, mostly a goat or sheep, whose intestinal component, known as Tatha, would be sprinkled on the victim,” shares the elder.

Spiritual realm 

In both the Kikuyu and Kamba, there is the phenomenon known as Gitaa or Kitaa respectively. In this case, if an individual, usually with black marks on their tongue, praises an aspect of your household, livestock and even children, misfortune will befall them.

“Someone would say, for example, your child has beautiful. skin. Suddenly, that child will start developing pimples or some misfortune that will affect their beauty will befall them. It is also known as kyeni (pronounced as ‘cheni’)” says Ndolo Mutiso.

The only way to turn things around is for the said person to spit on the child. 

For other communities, people considered as harbinger of misfortune are dreaded to the point that if one leaves the house and encounters them first thing in the morning, they would rather go back to the house instead of going on their planned daily activity.

When it comes to religious beliefs, Pastor T Mwangi, of Life Church Limuru, says evil luck is rooted in spiritual world and it is upon the victim to identify the source of the evil cycle they are dealing with, then pray for deliverance.

“Source of such evil can be a result of things happening in the spirit realm. There is the effect of the spiritual clock, which tries to create cycles in someone’s life.

For instance you will notice an evil occurrence in one’s life after every five years. There are also monitoring spirits, who do not necessarily attack you, but monitor your life and just before a breakthrough, something bad or evil happens to you.

It is important as a Christian to know that a lot of war happening in the gates of your life. These monitoring spirits act as spiritual watchmen, so that you are unable to move forward. All evil is a product of an open door, which has allowed the oppressors access to your life.

It is upon you to locate which door was open, what power is in charge of your predicament and pray,” shares the minister.

He also adds that some bad luck would happen as a result of generational curses and patterns. While people die, demons do not.

So if one’s parent had a hand in witchcraft or contact with similar kind of acts, then the demons will have legal right to oppress them and even their children. But all this can be ended through prayers.