When shed blood cries for justice
Among the many mysterious deaths of young people, one that recently took the internet by storm was that of 23-year-old interior designer, Jeff Mwathi. His death was intially ruled as self-harm, but questions arose about the circumstances surrounding his death. He was said to have died after falling from the 10th floor of an apartment in Kasarani, Nairobi. Renowned Kenyan deejay, Dj Fatxo has since found himself in the tightest leash as he was closely linked to the incident.
Jeff’s body was found on the ground floor pavement of the apartment block on the same day he was to start a job he had been contracted to do by the DJ. While no arrests have been made so far, with the police citing lack of sufficient evidence, a lot of people, mostly unknown to the deceased came out to support his family in seeking justice. They were even ready to take to the streets in peaceful protest. #JusticeforJeff has been trending on social media. This saw action from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) with an assurance that no stone shall be left unturned in the investigation of this case.
And on Friday last week, DCI forensic experts exhumed the body and a postmorterm conducted to ascertain what caused his death.
While this might seem so ordinary to some, there are those who believe this is a spiritual consequence of the departed soul’s unrest and he was seeking justice through people.
Common occurence
Just like in Jeff’s case there are many other cases within the African context where families of people who died mysteriously had to invoke spiritual efforts in bringing the culprits to book. There have been tales of people speaking to coffins or leaving weapons in the casket.
Salim Abdullahi, a trader in Mombasa says this is common among the Digo community. “When someone dies in a manner that suggests that someone’s hands were involved, the elders go to the place where he or she died— the place of the incidence. If there was blood spilt, they will pick the soil with the blood and take it back to the ancestral shrines for rituals, which is taken as an act of reporting the matter. Without mentioning anyone’s name, they will ask that whoever did have a hand in the death, should not rest, the blood should go after him. And if the person was killed, all those involved will pay dearly to their death or can run mad. If the victim was not murdered, nothing will happen,” shares Abdullahi.
While this is the cultural way, Ustadha Fatma Mohammed shares that in Islamic religion, the blood of the dead person has no power whatsoever to seek for justice.
“In Islam, we have something called bloodwit, which is paid to the deceased family by the suspect of the said crime. Bloodwit is the money given to the family as compensation and it is negotiable and also depends on the family and how much they have. Failure to pay this, then the suspect should be killed. It’s called qisas, interpreted to mean “retaliation in kind”, “an eye for an eye”, or retributive justice. He is killed by the Islamic court or the Kadhi’s office. The dead cannot seek justice according to the Islamic teachings, but the family has a right to seek justice,” shares the Islamic religious teacher.
First murder
The first account of innocent blood being shed in the Bible is in Genesis 4. The Holy Bible in Genesis 4:10, says, “And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground.’ After Cain denied knowing where Abel was, God revealed that He already knew. God could hear the voice of Abel’s blood crying to Him from the ground where it was spilled. This first murder shows blood spilled in unjust death cries out to be avenged, for the wrong to be made right.
Spiritual warfare
God forbids shedding of innocent blood. The fourth commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill” Exodus 20:13
“Yes blood has a voice and it does call out to God for justice. Aside from the blood of Abel, which was calling out for vengeance, the other blood that has had a loud voice is the blood of Jesus Christ, which speaks for us and it speaks better things. The blood of Christ not only offers forgiveness of sin, but also sanctification. Hebrews 13:12 tells us that “Jesus also suffered… in order to sanctify the people through His own blood.” The soul of man is in the blood,” says Mombasa-based Pastor Jolline Katama.
She adds that we are living in an era of spriritual warfare and the devil is also taking people out before they unveil the purpose of Christ. The love of many has grown cold and a lot of murder cases are on the daily rise. Many people don’t believe in God anymore, have become less prayerful and have no discernment so they cannot assess their environments… in most cases putting them in dangers.
Blood shed also defiles a nation according to Numbers 35:33-34. Mijikenda elder John Baya attributes a lot of the recent blood spill to political aftermaths. “We are living in the worst state of affairs since colonial times. Most of this is triggered by elections and politics. It is affecting everyone, school children, parents and mostly the youth. Kenya is not at peace right now. People are dying; our youths have taken up a degree of being vicious because they feel their voices are not respected. Others to suicide and murder because their lives have become worthless in their faces. These devilish behaviours are trying to put Kenya in a civil war. So, why can’t all the leaders tone down and choose peace,” says the elder during an interview.
