Central Kenya’s most famous traditional doctor, Maina wa Magoto, is dead.
The spiritual leader passed away on Monday evening, March 20, at his home in Kiamara, Kangema constituency in Murang’a County.
Revered and feared in equal measure, Maina is believed to have been the oldest and powerful traditional healer in central Kenya.
Some knew him as a traditional doctor and fortune teller while others labelled him a wizard.
Over the decades, his popularity had been rising steadily, with thousands of members of the Agikuyu community travelling from far and wide to set foot on his shrine.
Maina claimed that he could offer solutions through his interactions with the ancestral world.
He was categorical that most of the problems facing members of his community today stem from ignorance and worshipping foreign gods.
He claimed that the Kikuyu-turned-Christians had angered their ancestors for refusing to pay bride price the right way.
The traditional healer claimed he had the power to cure many diseases, including cancer and HIV.
His Mihiriga Kenda Muiyuru (The nine Agikuyu clans) movement had upset many Christian religious leaders.
In 2020, when the cultural group was attracting many followers from the church, then Nairobi Catholic Archbishop, John Cardinal Njue declared Maina a threat to Christianity.
He said that his was a dangerous cult that needed to be tamed.
Though his name was known out there, he remained faceless for decades until 2021 when he was interviewed by a vernacular TV station.
However, senior citizens in his area said that he could have been around 150 years old.
He was asked to clear the speculation over actual age but only said that he participated in the Mau Mau war.
