Kenya: School bus driver dies after drinking witch doctor's potion to prove innocence

A man has died in Kenya after drinking a potion prepared by a witch doctor to help him prove his innocence in a case of stolen school books.

The incident took place in the city of Kisii, southwestern Kenya, where the man, a school bus driver, died immediately after drinking the concoction.

The witch doctor was hired by a local school to find the thief of the school books, Kenya's Daily Nation reported.

The bus driver, whose identity was not revealed, agreed to drink the potion to prove his innocence, but he died straight after.

As a result of the man's death, angry villagers torched the school bus and the school deputy director's car to avenge the school driver.

"The driver was dared... to prove his innocence by drinking the mixture," local police chief Simon Kiragu said.

Thousands of people in several African countries rely on witch doctors, who were recently banned in Tanzania in a bid to curb albino killings.

According to Coumba Makalou Keita, executive director of the Mali-based Salif Keita Global Foundation, which works to achieve fair treatment and social integration of people with albinism, witchcraft is difficult to eradicate from African culture.

"There is always an element of traditional witchcraft that exists in African societies regardless of the official religion in the country," Keita told IBTimes UK. "Most people have contact with witch doctors and this is accepted, it's considered almost necessary because certain beliefs prior to modern religions have never been fully wiped away.

"Many believe that in order to enhance their lives and to get what they want, they need the assistance of someone who has contact with the spiritual world."