A farmer in southwestern Kenya has demolished his kitchen after his wife claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary, a development that attracted thousands of pilgrims to their home. Charles Onsombi returned to his house in the village of Getare, Kisii county, on Saturday to find it surrounded by people.
The influx of visitors began after his wife, Mary, reported seeing an image emerge in the soot on the mud-brick wall of their kitchen on Friday. She described it as a woman in a veil with hands in prayer, which she interpreted as a divine sign. News of the alleged vision quickly spread through the community and went viral on social media, drawing people from as far as the Tanzanian border and Homa Bay.
Pastors accompanied their congregations to the site, leading to a significant police presence to manage the crowds. Some pilgrims claimed they could clearly see the image, with one local telling Citizen TV, "I saw it for myself. I saw the picture and I believe it was her." Others believed it to be "the mother of Jesus who has come here," with some calling for a church to be established at the location.
However, Charles Onsombi expressed skepticism. Upon returning home, he noted that the image he saw online differed from what was on the wall and suggested it might have been AI-generated. "When people started coming, taking photos and whatever, what I can see on the internet is not exactly what is here," he told local press.
As the crowds continued to gather into Sunday night, Mr. Onsombi, reportedly frustrated by his home being turned into a public spectacle, took a farming hoe to the kitchen wall, reducing it to rubble. "He said his wife had… turned his home into a market," a local vendor told Kenya's Daily Nation. "He demolished the kitchen himself after he was overwhelmed by the crowds and warned everyone not to set foot in his compound again."
Despite the farmer's actions and his subsequent threats with a machete to deter visitors, some people continued to visit the site. Onsombi reportedly warned them, "If you want this demolished clay, tell me so, [then] I can put it in carrier bags for you." He insisted there was no image of the Virgin Mary in his kitchen.
The number of visitors began to decline in the following days after the wall was destroyed. Some residents commented that Mr. Onsombi had "lost an opportunity" to capitalize on the situation financially.