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ANGOLA PRESS (Lusaka) 10 July 06 Jilted man offers serpent to ex-lover
Nairobi, Kenya: A jilted man caused drama in a rural market center in western Kenya Saturday evening when he offered his former girlfriend a snake as a gift in a neatly wrapped gift pack, media reports said here Sunday.
Paul Nyakundi, 29, from Sondu Township, wrapped the live three- foot serpent in a gift pack so as to scare the girl who had threatened to quit the relationship.
Nyakundi had reportedly courted Diana Chelangat, a form three student at a local secondary school, for three months but the offer was out rightly rejected after she discovered that the man was married.
In what eyewitnesses saw as an act of witchcraft, Nyakundi then took a snake, coiled it in a gift wrapper and gave it to Chelangat, instructing her not to open it until she arrived at home.
Out of curiosity, however, the girl decided to open the parcel on the way home, only to be shocked that she was carrying a live serpent, the reports said.
She immediately collapsed and a passer-by administered first aid before she regained consciousness.
The incident attracted a large crowd of market goers who then searched for Nyakundi, cornered him and threatened to lynch him, but police on patrol saved him from mob action.
Nyakundi, who was ordered by the law enforcement agents to kill the snake (black mamba), is being held at a local police post, according to the reports.
Jilted man offers serpent to ex-lover

KENYA TIMES (Kenya) 12 July 06 Snake gift man in court (Ken Langat)
Business came to standstill yesterday in a Kericho court when a man who presented a snake wrapped in a box as a gift to his girlfriend was arraigned in the court.
Curious members of the public jammed the court to get a glimpse of Evans Nyakundi together with the snake which was brought as exhibit before Resident Magistrate James Mwaniki.
Nyakundi, who was charged with pretending to exercise witchcraft, denied the offence.
Prosecuting, Inspector Tom Oganda told the parked court that the accused, on July 5, this year, at Sondu Market in Kericho District, pretended to possess supernatural powers by presenting a sealed box containing a black mamba to Dianna Chelangat, thereby causing her fears or annoyance.
However, the case was adjourned until today when the complainant, who was not present, will identify the snake.
Snake gift man in court