By David Maillu
Published September 1, 2023
There are people born with special and deadly bodily attributes which qualify them to be given certain names. Stories abound that there are people who are, by fate design, misfortune causers. In scientific language, they are people whose body produces negative waves. That is, they are not witches by any personal design. The best they can do with themselves is to learn how to live with such embarrassing body. They walk cautiously among people. They even pity themselves for inheriting such body.
The commonest illustration of such people are the ones the Whiteman termed as people with a ‘bad eye’. These people are well known in all communities in Africa and they are feared and treated with caution.
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The person with ‘bad-eye’ can be anybody. In some cases, the bearer of the bad-eye may not be aware of his/her powers. Commonly, they are reported that he/she can look at a beautiful child and sound such a remark as, ‘What a beauty!’ Immediately, the child’s skin grows rashes. The degree of the rashes may differ from the bearer of the bad-eye. SOME bearers can cause terrible rashes. In Kikamba the common rashes are called KITA and the worst one’s called KITHEMENGU. They are easily treatable by any agent with those in-born powers, who would simply spit at the skin and the healing takes place.
The ‘bad eye’ can cause diverse destructions in animals and objects. If you are born with the bad-eye you are cautioned by family members and anyone else close to you against your utterances. The bad-eye is more common among women than among men. Even without talking, a bad-eye person can pass through a pottery workshop and cause breaking of the pots.