Game trapper Gabriel Malaika of Buhimba village in Hoima district got a jolt when a guinea fowl in his trap ordered him to free it. It had fallen into a trap in Malaika's groundnut garden. When he attempted to get it, the fowl reportedly spoke in a human voice and ordered him to free it because he would be in danger if he harmed it. Malaika ignored the bird and took it home. As he was looking for a knife to slaughter it for supper, a swarm of bees attacked him and forced him to flee into a nearby banana plantation. He ran with the fowl held under his arm, strangling it inadvertently. After killing it, Malaika ran berserk through the village shouting in a foreign language which sounded like Chinese or Greek. He sent people at the Buhimba trading centre fleeing for safety. Police handed him over to his parents. By the time of the news report, Malaika's relatives were consulting local witchdoctors about a cure. Rumours say that Malaika trapped the guinea fowl which owned the village and the stream called Rwenkondwa. [14 Dec 1996]

People of Ikoba village in Masindi district were surprised when a girl called Nyamaizi claimed a cat had asked her to marry it. Nyamaizi and her sister were in their house on the night of 24 January when there was a knock. Nyamaizi opened the door and found a black cat which proposed marriage to her in a human voice, speaking fluent Lunyoro. She was speechless with shock and the cat repeated its offer when Nyamaizi's sister joined her at the door. "Nyakiliza ha bibero byawe [Lift me and put me on your lap]", the cat reportedly told the girl. The two girls fled, but the cat pursued them. Next morning, the cat was caught and burnt by an angry crowd in a local school. Its ashes were later removed and taken to a river. The correspondent for the Monitor found out that in Lunyoro this kind of thing is called "Kifoka", meaning something which can change to anything and anyone who welcomes it dies. The person only lives if it is killed and burnt. [16 Feb 1997]

A porter with the Re-Raghwani Construction Company, known only as Alaani, died in Kampala on 10 January 1995 when three cement blocks fell on his head. Arrangements were made to transport the body to Butiiti for burial. The vehicle broke down at Kaloonga, but mechanics could find nothing wrong. The mourners escorting the body spent the night by the roadside. The next day, the vehicle started up without difficulty, but it stopped again in Mubende town. An elderly relative then decided that the trouble lay with the deceased, who didn't want to be buried. He removed the corpse from the coffin and caned it with all his strength. When he had finished, the vehicle started up and the body was transported to Toro at 4pm on 14 January. [20 Jan 1995]

A wizard in Kamali district, Bugaya sub-county, was found by a neighbour frying groundnuts using the hand of a corpse. The neighbour was infuriated because, like many others in the village, he had feasted on the wizard's groundnuts. He tried to strange the wizard, whose screams brought other villagers on the scene. They proceeded to beat the wizard to death.

Three days later, as the coffin was being lowered into the ground, the wizard's voice was heard from inside the coffin saying, "You killers, leave me alone" (or in the embroidered version by Victor Lewis Smith in Private Eye, "You killers, give me back by groundnuts".) The incredulous villagers opened the coffin and found the wizard with eyes wide open and an angry look about him. They ran off, but for fear of misfortune all the villagers who had participated in the killing later appeased him with a male goat each. [26-28 April 1995]