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THE STANDARD (Nairobi, Kenya) 17 February 06 Excitement as ‘Omieri’ the snake returns (Linda Keya)
The adored snake of Nyanza, Omieri, has resurfaced this time in Kano, Nyando District.
The residents of Ombeyi village heaved a sigh of relief when they spotted the snake believed to bring good luck, at a time when drought and famine have hit the area.
Villagers have been flocking the home of Luke Ochieng’ to see the snake.
Yesterday, when we arrived at the home the serpent had gone hunting and only its eggs lay in its hole.
Among the visitors to the home were Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) wardens.
Councillor Charles Obiero of Ombeyi North Ward appealed to KWS to build a sanctuary for the python before it disappears as did one did in 2003.
In 1987, the Government relocated Omieri to a national park, sparking an outcry from local elders who felt that it was wrong to move the snake from its natural habitat.
Mr Ojwang’ Kombudo, the Nyakach MP then, implored the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife to return Omieri to Nyakach, saying it was a good omen.
Villagers were saddened when the python got burnt in a bush fire and was flown to Nairobi for treatment.
Excitement as ‘Omieri’ the snake returns

EAST AFRICAN STANDARD (Nairobi, Kenya) 25 February 06 Now You See Her, Now You Don't (Janerose Gacheri)
Nairobi: The sleepy village of Ombei on the shores of Lake Victoria is awake with action, to the envy of Nyakach dwellers. The revered and venerated python, Omieri, that has been doing an appearing and disappearing act at Nyakach has surfaced in a new location.
Unlike in 2003 when Omieri was granted security by armed youths, elderly men and KWS personnel, this time round the present Omieri is not so lucky. KWS has threatened to kill it, saying it is a security risk to the residents of Ombei.
But is she the same Omieri who appears and disappears? She may not be. Each time, she is a different one, but then to the villagers of Nyakach, Omieri is Omieri, because she comes the same way, behaves the same way, and leaves the same way, ever since she first visited in 1948. Because each time the python appears it lays and hatches eggs the Omieris that have resurfaced must be offspring of the original Omieri.
Mythology has it that the name Omieri evolved from a serpent of the same name which belonged to a witch doctor, Muma Woud Owade who lived at Wire near Oyugis Market in Kasipul Location of South Nyanza. The snake was given the name because she was harmless. Hence pythons that possessed such dispositions were named Omieri.
Omieri is no ordinary python. The more than 10 footer reptile is revered in this quiet farming village situated some 20 kilometres east of Kisumu. Popular mythology has it that the snake's arrival portends good fortune - plenty of rainfall, harvest and other goodies.
Interesting, Omieri's presence influences the village's economy in a big way. Kiosks spring up and do booming business selling water, soda, bread, tea, mandazi, food and other necessities to the swelling crowds that flock to have a glimpse of the mysterious snake.
Luck indeed is what Benta, the shy little village girl who discovered Omieri's appearance in February 16, 2003 experienced. Soon the girl was known the world over as she talked to the local media, CNN and BBC crew among other international media on "her life with Omieri". Now she had to contend with a lonely life "without Omieri," her godsend guest who had catapulted her to international fame.
While some are brave and touch and pet the snake, to others, the python' presence sends shivers down the spines of such people as religious leaders, and pours ripples of fear down the hearts of even the bravest of visitors.
She, too has other names. During her reappearance in 2003, she was christened Nyawasare - the daughter of Wasare the name of the location that she fondly visits.
Whenever she appears, Omieri is feted like a king. She is fed with all manner of delicacies including chicken, bread, mandazi and occasionally, the famous lakeside dish, Ugali.
Residents believe that bad omen befalls anyone who hurts Omieri. In 2003, a man who set fire on the thicket that was home to Omieri, injuring her seriously, reportedly perished under mysterious circumstances.
They look at the snake as a harbinger of good omen. She emerges whenever there has been prolonged disaster such as drought or famine, lays her eggs and when they hatch, good fortune will be on its way to the people of the lake. Then Omieri and her siblings disappear into Lake Victoria.
This is how one writer describes Omieri's disappearing act in June 2003. "If Omieri's arrival was a familiar, unobtrusive event for the villagers, her departure was a spectacle. She is said to have made an acrobatic dance, perhaps a reaction to the strange diet and unnecessary human intrusion. Then in a flight into the air, a flat fall on the muddy ground, followed by a lighting dash into the thickets, her precious "Omierilets" in her wake."
Some residents view Omieri as a symbol of the devil that should not be venerated. In March 2003, Anglican archdeacon of Kisumu Central, Shadrack Owuor threatened to lead his congregation to burn Omieri since other religious personalities were tight lipped on Omieri. He never carried out his threat and the villagers were openly unhappy with him.
The reptile gained national prominence after being rescued and transported to the National Museum Snake Park in Nairobi by wildlife personnel after being injured in a sugarcane fire in Nyakach.
But the then area MP, Ojwang' K'Ombudo, sent an appeal to Parliament requesting for the good omen reptile to be returned to Nyakach to avoid disaster. He surprised a good number of his colleagues when he lamented: "Our luck is being ruined by the ministry by taking away Omieri."
Omieri later died from the burns she had incurred during the fire incident, sending shivers to a community that firmly believed this was a sign of bad omen. To counter this, Omieri was buried with honours befitting a human being. To put across a message of the respect and adoration the people from Nyakach had for Omieri, the community buried him in a grand ceremony in a coffin following a public fund-raiser.
In each disappearing act, Omieri reportedly leaves in a huff, leaving the villagers' hopes shattered.
Common belief has it that when a natural phenomenon gains prominence in a community's folklore, the friction between science and superstition is likely to erupt into controversy.
The last time Omieri surfaced in 2003 a local scientist with wide experience in the study of snakes, Damaris Rotich, the head of the herpetology department at the National Museums of Kenya (now closed for renovations) dispelled the notion of mystery about Omieri.
Rotich cited normal ecological behaviours of the African rock pythons - Python sebae, which Omieri belongs to, and environmental factors as a possible cause of a number of myths surrounding it.
For starters, the herpetologist says that most animals living in the wild have a reproductive behaviour, and the biggest snake in Africa has one too. It tends to follow closely the rainfall pattern of a given area.
To give her offspring a high chance of survival, says Rotich, an adult python female will lay eggs well ahead of the rain. She will therefore select a suitable site, such as a thick bush, rock fissure or deep moist hole to lay a single clutch of between 16-100 eggs, which are the size of a tennis ball. The size of the clutch depends of the size of the snake. The larger the female the larger the clutch.
The snake, naturally, coils in a brooding manner around its eggs, to protect them, just before they hatch and will only leave to drink.
Why does Omieri hiss continuously? Is it because she is disturbed, annoyed or hungry? According to Rotich, by continuously twitching the muscles, she raises the temperature by a few degrees during incubation.
Peter Okoth, a resident from Nyakach who does not believe in the mystery of Omieri says, "The tendency of pythons to stay away from the public eye could be proving grounds for myths whenever a python suffices for its reproduction purposes."
A study of snakes has shown that there are plenty of recorded cases of pythons becoming active near dusk towards their reproductive time as reported in the book, A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa.
Thus, Omieri, may be a python that ventures out in cases of ecological distress such as shortage of food or food around its usual range. Okoth says, it may set out on an active search, that at times ends up in a homestead.
Then again, destruction of a python's habitat through burning or clearing the bush will also unsettle it. It will try to escape if confronted, but if cornered will strike.
While in the past cases of Omieri's appearance, villages have been captured on camera giving the snake mandazi, bread, ugali, it is not quite clear if the snake has been feeding on these items (remember the case of the egwugwu of Achebe's Things Fall Apart? - it's the elders who ate the food that was sacrificed). Rotich says pythons are strictly carnivorous and swallow their prey whole and may stay put for weeks digesting it.
Owuor Olungah, who has extensively done research on African studies, says, the reason for the appearance of Omieri is environmental.
"The swampy terrain of these places and their proximity to Lake Victoria, makes encounters with snakes a common occurrence for the residents, who are very knowledgeable about snakes," he says, adding, "Observing that Omieri is huge, non-aggressive and non-poisonous, the locals in their first encounters with the snake must have been surprised that such a huge serpent could be harmless, defying believes that snakes are fierce, poisonous and dangerous."
Of course, says, Olungah, the fact that the snake deviated from what is expected had to be explained. On the good fortunes - rain and plenty of harvest, the researcher says, might have come when the villagers realised that the appearance of the snake was followed by torrential rains and good harvest. But myth or no myth, it is a fact that the villagers of Nyakach and Ombei among other Luo communities, genuinely believe in the Omieri myth and dare not interfere with the python.
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