/ 13 January 2002

‘BLOODSUCKER’ KEEPS KIDS AWAY FROM SCHOOL

PARENTS in a village in eastern Kenya kept their 400 children away from classes for two days because they were convinced the local school was haunted by spirits that would suck their blood, a schools inspector said on Wednesday. Kilonzo Musilu, who inspected the primary school in the village of Ithiani, some 130 kilometres east of the capital Nairobi, said the parents believed a local businessman had sent the “majini”, or spirits, to the school. The parents also demanded the businessman pay the cost of an exorcism on the premises. The inspector said however that several of the parents had been taken to court over the incident, and fined for having threatened the businessman. The children were returning to the school on Wednesday. – AFP