My Grandma’s Encounter With a 20-Metre Ghost at Pangani Forest in the 1980s

Stories about strange, unexplained objects are not new in our communities. For decades, people have spoken about things they saw but could not explain—figures that appear and vanish, objects that move without sound, and encounters that leave more questions than answers.

In many cases, such stories are linked to beliefs in witchcraft or unseen forces that exist alongside ordinary life.

This particular story was told to me by my aunt, known as Mama Poa because of her calm and easygoing nature.

She is not a direct daughter of my grandmother, but she was married into the family and heard the story firsthand from the one who experienced it—my late grandmother, Mnyazi.

According to Mama Poa, the incident happened in the 1980s in Kilifi South, in a village called Danicha. At the time, life followed a simple routine, and people depended heavily on farming. My grandmother owned a farm known as Muyuni, where she would go regularly to tend to her crops.

On that day, she woke up early and prepared for the journey. Like many women in the village, she carried her chikahana—a woven basket used for transporting tools and supplies. Inside it, she had packed her jembe, panga, and other items she needed for farm work.

The path to Muyuni was familiar. It passed through open land before reaching a section near a forest known as Pangani, located about 300 meters from the homestead.

Even today, Pangani remains a thick forest, with tall trees and areas where sunlight barely reaches the ground.

Mama Poa...