Modern Kenya still lives on legends and revered characters from the past, including sorcerers, traditional healers and seers.
One of the most important and well-known was called Gor Mahia and, although he lived in the nineteenth century, his name is topical because it is the name of the most important and successful soccer team of Kenya.
Foreigners hardly know the history of Gor Mahia.
Son of Ogada and grandson of Ogallo, Gor was an eminent sorcerer Luo, born in the late eighteenth century, who used the magical and miraculous powers inherited from his grandfather to rule his people.
Born in the village of Sigama, just under 10 kilometers from the shores of Lake Victoria, on the border of Ruma National Park and 25 km southwest of Homa Bay, Gor Obunga did not grow up like all children. His father was polygamous as normal in the Luo tribes, but the wife he had Gor from, Atoka, gave him only him as a son and died when he was still a child.
The story goes that even as a boy it was difficult to distinguish whether Gor was a spirit or a human being. Legend has it that he inherited magical powers from his grandfather Ogallo.
One day his grandfather was summoned to bless his grandchildren. Gor was only 5 years old.
A ceremonial bull was killed and Ogallo began to bless each child with his blood.
When it was Gor's turn, Ogallo did something different, choosing instead to give him the ashes of his mother to bury in his hut. This experience became the origin of Gor's powers. It had become a mystery even for the same Ogallo who had blessed him.
The miracles that Gor performed from then on earned him the nickname "Mahia", which means more or less "supernatural".
Growing up, the boy also developed the power of prophecy. Famous is his vision of "child-like" creatures that were as voracious and unstoppable as locusts.
He warned the brave Karungu warriors who defended the Luo lands that these creatures could not be fought because they had sticks with them that spat flaming stones. Soon white men would arrive.
The great sorcerer Luo had 22 wives and more than a hundred children. There are about 3000 descendants who are directly related to him. He had a parliamentary grandson and one of the most famous judges in the region, Augustine Gor, is remembered as a man of special virtues.
It is also said that Gor Mahia was a friend of the legendary leader of the Maasai, Lenana, with whom he exchanged gifts several times.
Most of the powers Gor possessed still remains a mystery linked to oral tradition, with a mythology that goes so far as to ensure that he was able to transform himself into a woman or a dog and pass through matter. On the other hand, certain are the great qualities of herbalist that have been transmitted to all the modern shamans who still today go to his tomb, to confirm them and those of clairvoyant.
However, all are warned not to collect plants, leaves and even stones around his tomb without the consent of Gor's descendants. It is said that any contact with the tomb disturbs his spirit and it is proven that some desecrators have fallen ill and sometimes died for it.
Those who have been to Sigama, at Gor's burial site, confirm that it is a goose-step scenario.
This sleepy village that has fought strenuously for modernization has remained as it was 90 years ago when Gor Mahia died at the venerable age of 126 and the burial place has remained a place that attracts not only herbalists and witches, but politicians, businessmen and tourists who come to his grave to learn about history, but also to try to solve all kinds of personal problems. It is the grandchildren today who receive the visitors, and they confirm that local leaders in times of election and other prominent personalities rely on the energy of the tomb of the great magician Luo.
At a time when there is a need for positive energies and links with a past that often appears brighter and fairer than the present, knowing the legendary story of heroes like Gor Mahia can only be good for the spirit.