MOMBASA (Kenya) - INSIDE one of a cluster of traditional mud and grass thatched huts in Kenya's coast region, two elderly men sit in front of fire with their legs crossed on a mat, hard at work.
Moving with the times
In the past, witchcraft took the form of sacrifice of animals such as goats, cows and even snakes whose blood would be sprinkled around the stadium, or the planting of magic wands and the burial of dead human body parts - often obtained from mortuaries - in the stadium.
But in recent years voodooists have moved with the times.
One of the men, in his sixties, scribbles some words in Arabic on a wooden board covered with white sand. 'Yarabi,' he shouts loudly, as a group of young men at one end of the room watch attentively.
The young men are devout local supporters of England's Arsenal Football Club. They want Mzee Shaha Viwahi, a reputed witch doctor, to foresee the future of their favourite club which has gone for four seasons without a trophy.
Arsenal has trailed way behind arch-rivals Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in the battle for the English premiership.
Scenes at Mzee Shaha's are part of daily life in the local football fraternity in the Kenyan coast region - an area where 'sorcery' is widespread with some saying it's nothing other than the use of traditional medicine while others blame it for mysterious deaths or accidents.
But the over-reliance on witch doctors by teams hoping to win matches or to settle scores with opposing teams has reduced once-vibrant sport here to occultism.
The practice is not confined to Kenya. Mzee Shaha and his partner Mzee Shariff Omar, both born in the Zanzibari island of Tumbatu, have been at the forefront of a booming business now spreading across east and central Africa.
Two of their countrymen have reportedly been on the payrolls of Yanga and Simba, two top Tanzanian club sides involved in a bizarre ritual incident in September 2004.
Before a league decider, Simba players had been sent to sprinkle a strange powder and broken eggs around the goal area while Yanga, counteracted by sending two of its players to urinate on the field.
The Football Association of Tanzania (FAT) fined both clubs 500 dollars each for what it termed 'unacceptable' conduct involving the match, which ended in a 2-2 draw. -- AFP
