A homestead in Getare Village, Emenwa Sub-Location, Bobasi Constituency in Kisii County, which for a week drew thousands of faithful eager to see an image believed to be that of the ‘Virgin Mary’, has become a scene of drama and tension after its owner demolished the kitchen where the apparition was said to have appeared.
Charles Onsombi, the husband of Mary Onsombi, who first reported seeing the image on the soot-blackened kitchen wall, is said to have returned home from Mombasa on Saturday morning after hearing what his wife had alleged and learning of the subsequent invasion of his compound.
According to neighbours, the elderly man arrived to find his small compound overrun by ‘pilgrims’ who included boda boda riders and preachers, with the once-quiet footpath transformed into a busy thoroughfare.
Angered and overwhelmed, he picked up a jembe on Sunday night and brought down the mud-walled kitchen that had become an unlikely shrine.
The demolished house of a man in Getare village, Kisii County where the image of the 'Virgin Mary' allegedly appeared.
Photo credit: Wycliffe Nyaberi | Nation Media Group
“He became very angry. He said his wife had embarrassed him and turned his home into a market. He demolished the kitchen himself after he was overwhelmed by the crowds and warned everyone not to set foot in his compound again,” said Mama Callen Kemunto, who sells sugarcane a few metres from Mr Onsombi’s home.
When the Daily Nation arrived at the homestead on Monday morning, Mzee Onsombi was still chasing away curious residents and faithful who continued to stream to the compound, hoping to catch a glimpse of the wall.
Not even journalists were spared. They were forced to find creative ways to photograph the homestead without entering the compound.
“He has turned wild chasing everybody on sight with the help of another man. He says that there is no image of Virgin Mary in his kitchen,” said a youth who had been turned away at the gate.
The famous kitchen, whose wall bore a whitish-grey formation resembling a veiled woman, had been reduced to a pile of mud. The three-stone jiko where his wife was said to have knelt while cooking lay scattered among the debris.
According to Mr Onsombi’s wife, a peasant farmer and devout Catholic, she had just lit her jiko to prepare supper for her family when she noticed what appeared to be a shadow on the northern wall, about three feet from the floor, precisely where she usually knelt to cook.
An image resembling the Biblical Virgin Mary which allegedly appeared on a kitchen wall in a Kisii village.
Photo credit: Pool
By Monday, the footpath leading to Mr Onsombi’s homestead had become a river of human traffic. Boda boda riders were charging Sh100 per trip from Emenwa centre to Getare.
Schoolchildren in uniform were skipping classes to see the phenomenon, while preachers from as far as Ogembo and Nyamache streamed into the compound.
“Siwataki hapa. I do not want you here. If you want this demolished clay, tell me so that I can put it in carrier bags for you,” Mr Onsombi was overheard telling visitors.
The kitchen itself was nothing extraordinary. It had mud walls darkened by years of firewood smoke, with a few sufurias hanging from nails.
Yet on one wall was an approximately 18-inch-tall whitish-grey formation that, to some believers, resembled a woman draped in a long veil, her hands clasped in prayer.
Some ‘pilgrims’ touched the wall. Others knelt and prayed. Many took photographs and videos, some of which were shared widely on social media.
The Catholic Church has since dismissed claims that the image on the kitchen wall was that of the “Virgin Mary”, the Biblical mother of Jesus.
A crowd throngs a home in Bassi Central Ward, Kisii County, to catch a glimpse of an image resembling the Biblical Virgin Mary which allegedly appeared on a kitchen wall.
Photo credit: Pool
Father Edward Nyakundi of Nyamagwa Parish visited the home on Sunday as the crowds continued to swell and dismissed the claims.
“Let me ask you. During those many years when the Bible speaks of Virgin Mary, who was there to take a photo of her and know how her image looked like?” Fr Nyakundi asked residents when he visited the home.
The priest reminded the faithful that the Catholic Church has a strict and lengthy process for verifying alleged apparitions. The process can take years and involves theological, psychological and scientific investigations by the Diocese and, ultimately, the Vatican.
“The Church is always cautious. We have had many such reports in Kisii. Most turn out to be natural. But we cannot dismiss the faith of the people,” said a catechist from the area who requested anonymity.
Ms Onsombi, who had become an overnight celebrity and whose story had briefly united rival denominations around one smoky kitchen, has now gone silent.
She was not seen at the compound by press time. Neighbours said she was staying with a relative nearby, fearing her husband’s wrath.
Police from Bassi Central have been put on alert to prevent a confrontation between the enraged owner and ‘pilgrims’ who continue to arrive, unaware that the shrine they came to see is now nothing more than a pile of mud.
