Arise Media 
The serene Kimangaru village in Manyatta Constituency, nestled in the lush landscapes of Embu County, is experiencing an unsettling disruption.
The once peaceful community has been gripped by fear and anxiety following eerie occurrences believed to be the work of the spirit of a deceased young girl, Stella Mukami.
Mukami, a teenager died two months ago in unclear circumstances while in Nairobi where she lived with her foster parent identified as Waithera.
“Her mother died while she (Mukami) was in lower primary. However, a sponsor offered to help take her through education and support her with everything she needed,” says Edith Muthoni, Mukami’s grandmother.
Muthoni says the family appreciated the gesture as they had limited resources to successfully see all their children and grandchildren through education before allowing the orphaned girl to stay with the sponsor at her home in Kithimu, Embu County.
Muthoni reveals that the deceased stayed at the sponsor’s Kithimu home until she completed high school last year.
“When she lived at Kithimu, she used to visit us occasionally. After high school, she went to stay with the sponsor in Nairobi–a place we have never set our feet,” she says.
In February this year, Muthoni says the sponsor called to inform that Mukami had fallen ill. However, when they informed the sponsor of their intention to visit her, she discouraged them saying she was taking full care of her.
“A day later, the sponsor called to inform us that Mukami had passed on and that she would bring her body on the same day to Gakwegori mortuary in Embu. My husband waited for them at the morgue. They were in communication with the sponsor until around 11 am when she said they had arrived at Mwea and her phone went off completely,” Muthoni says.
According to Josphat Murithi, Mukami’s grandfather, Waithira switched on her phone at 8 pm when she had already booked the body at the morgue.
“She called at 8 pm when I had already left. She said she had booked the body at the morgue and that she wanted us to meet. I informed her that I was away and that she should go and meet those at home,” she says.
Muthoni says the sponsor came home hurriedly at night, informed the family of Mukami’s death, and left.
ARISE MEDIA was informed that the sponsor received a call from the morgue directing her to take Mukami’s body to another morgue for unknown reasons.
“We agreed to meet the next morning at Gakwegori to clear and take the body to Embu Level 5 hospital mortuary. When I called her in the morning, she said she had already booked the body at the Embu Level 5 hospital mortuary. I got confused. However, I confirmed she was my granddaughter,” Murithi says.
According to relatives, Mukami was buried at her grandfather’s home in a hurry and the presiding preachers didn’t plant the cross or eat–something unusual in Embu culture.
“On the burial date, we found the body already clothed in a wedding gown and was already in the casket. We only viewed the upper part and she seemed different. I could not deny or agree the face was hers,” says Murithi.
When we arrived at home for burial, he added, the presiding preacher who had come with the sponsor said their religion–Seventh Day Adventist–doesn’t allow the body to be taken out of the hearse unless it’s taken to the grave.
“They said their religion doesn’t allow planting a cross on a grave. They left in a hurry without eating. They never surrendered the burial permit or any other document relating to Mukami to us,” he says.
Muthoni says the first signs of disturbance began a few days after Mukami’s burial.
The first signs of disturbance began with a macabre discovery: chickens killed unusually and disturbingly.
Family members found their chickens with necks twisted, a perplexing and alarming sight.
“We’ve kept chickens for years, and we’ve never seen anything like this. It went on for three days and on the fourth, a Sunday I explained to a local preacher requesting divine intervention,” Muthoni reveals.
Muthoni said prayers and stopped the unusual acts for two days. “Thinking that everything had returned to normal, grandson Brian Murithi, 12 years reported seeing a disembodied head with the facial features of Mukami, the deceased surrounded by thorns, appearing to twist the necks of the chickens,” she says.
In a particularly chilling event, the family reported seeing Mukami’s grave physically shaking as if something beneath was trying to escape. This sighting, witnessed by several family members and neighbors, intensified the community’s fear and solidified the belief that Mukami’s spirit was not at rest.
This eerie vision left the family in shock and confusion, deepening their fear and uncertainty.
“It was after this ordeal that I sent my grandson, to call my sister-in-law to come and witness. When my grandson approached her gate, an image with the features of the sponsored appeared to him and told him off or else she would kill him,” she reveals.
Muthoni said, regardless the grandson signaled the sister-in-law who came and witnessed. “From that day, the ghost started disturbing my grandson. At times, it takes away his shows, clothes leaving him naked.”
Perhaps the most terrifying incidents have involved Mukami’s young cousin, Brian. On multiple occasions, Brian’s clothes and shoes have mysteriously disappeared, only to be found later in disarray.
This writer witnessed these occurrences, firsthand when he visited the family on Tuesday.
“During my stay, I too experienced the unexplainable. After interviewing Muthoni, I requested them to bring me their grandson to hear his story, only to find him naked and a string tightening around his neck. Perhaps the ghost didn’t like him talk to the media,” notes the Arise Media writer.
Locals hurriedly cut the string on the neck and after a frantic search, we found Brian’s clothes thrown in their family pit latrine.
The haunting has had a profound impact on the Kimangaru community. Preachers have been frequenting the home to help in divine intervention.
“We frequent the home to provide support and spiritual cleansing, hoping to comfort the family and lay the spirit to rest,” says pastor Njiru Njeru of Patmos International Church, Kithimu.
As the family seeks divine assistance, they are pursuing the law to have them allowed to exhume the body and bury it in an unknown place and have the burial permit surrendered to them by Ms. Waithera.
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