TayserMahrii:


2 mins of your life wasted

Pretty much.............but it was worth it

@Saddam "mtisthequbit

your haunted house was a hoax

How The Ruiru ‘Haunted House’ Became One of The Biggest National Hoaxes of All Time

As you drive down the dilapidated road towards Ruiru Town, an imposing mansion menacingly stares down at you, almost daring you to point it, gawk at it, question it or scowl at it.

The eerie, spooky structure has been the talk of town lately after rumors spread that it is one of Nairobi's most infamous 'Haunted Houses'.

It's a rather forlorn building - standing, seemingly, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by shacks and little kiosks, corrugated sheets, a plain, drab gate and an equally creepy neighboring apartment.

Situated in the Wataalam area of Ruiru Constituency, the decaying mansion has turned into stuff of legend around the entire area - and on Kenya's webspace - as more and more people claim that it is inhabited by supernatural creatures and harbors nocturnal, paranormal activities.

The rumor has been running for more than twenty years around the poverty-stricken Ruiru neighbourhood but gained massive currency after a cheeky Twitter user ignited the flames and blew the matter into national proportions.
One of it's rather sinister physical characteristics is the shape of the house's attic - designed to feature what terrifyingly appears to look like the face of an Owl - a much-derided bird in Africa's superstitious communities.

But while many have heard the rumor or helped spread it, nobody has ever come forward with receipts - indubitable proof that the house is actually haunted by 'jinis' and ghosts.

Therefore, Opera News decided to tour the area to debunk the myth and separate the wheat from the chaff.

"Its all nonsense," Ken, an immediate neighbor to the 'Haunted Mansion' said to us, "It's all rumors. Silly, baseless rumors. I know the owners of the house. I've lived here since 1996. I've been around this house longer than some of those kids on Twitter have been alive. Ask me, its all manufactured nonsense. Poor neighbors can be dangerous - especially in Africa, " he stated.
We then knocked on the door of another female tenant, whose house literally shares the same concrete fence with the alleged 'Haunted House'. But after introducing ourselves, she smiled and said," I know why you're here...". We all laughed.

"You're here to inquire about this house," she said, pointing at the tall, run down structure stating down at us, "That's the silliest thing I've heard in a long time. Look, I've been a tenant here for jusy two years. And I can confidently tell you that I've never experienced anything of that sort, not in the daytime, not in the nighttime. I have two little kids - girls actually, and none of them have reported any form of fear, terror or horror coming from this house. This is all made-up bullshit, created by idle villagers and spread by idle Internet-users, " she said.

"But don't take my word for it - I've been here for just two years. Talk to my landlady. She's been here for 30 years, " we are told.
Upon knocking on yet another door, a sophisticated-looking elderly woman emerges, she's bespectacled, speaks in flowery English and appears to live a life of comfort and abundance.

"Oh, not the media again!", she laments. We laugh.

"One of the biggest blogs in Kenya was here. Not too long ago. I guess it's actually the biggest Kenyan blog. They offered me Ksh. 10,000 to state on camera that this is a haunted house. What nonsense! I'm a self-made woman. I live comfortably. I wouldn't need a meager Ksh. 10,000 to peddle a lie. This house belongs to my friends. I raised my children with them. I know them. I've known them. And I am loyal to them. It's all nonsense. Pure, jealousy. Villagers can make or break you. This house is a warehouse. It belongs to one of the biggest and most renown plumbers and construction gurus in Nairobi. The couple is known to me. Its a shame what the Internet has done to my friend's innocent house", she says.

We were actually taken on a tour of the neighborhood, right at the foot of the house, right at the edge of the fence.
"Look around, look! Can you see people in the compound? Working? Look around, do you see activity? Normal human activity? Look through the windows, can you see the sinks and the taps and the toilet bowls? This is a warehouse. It's a storage house. The owner decided to convert it into a storage house for his equipment. But the Internet would rather run with a rumor. What a shame".

And true to her word, we could see people working in the compound, moving in and out of the house, fixing taps and pipes, doing normal human activities. Also, we checked closer through the broken windows and saw endless plumbing materials piled on each other - pipe wrenches, sinks, toilet bowls, faucets, toilet seats, bidets.

Still not convinced, we decided to venture further and talk to the regular neighbors right behind the infamous 'Haunted House'.
We meet a Mama Mboga busy cutting sukuma wiki for a waiting client and launch straight into the topic.

"Mimi kusema ukweli, hio maneno yote nimeionea tu Kwa social media. Nimefanya kazi hapa miaka saba. Saa zingine nafunganga hata saa nne usiku na naenda soko saa kumi na moja asubui. Sijawai sikia, sijawai ona na sijawai kutana na hizo Majini. Kwa miaka saba. Hio yote ni mushene ya Facebook. Mimi hata naitangwa huku Kwa hii nyumba wakati kuna kazi ya kutoa na kuweka mizigo Kwa gari. Hii ni store. Mwenyewe ni tajiri na ako na nyumba mingi. So aliamua kufanya hii ikuwe storeyake ya vitu za mjengo. Hio yote ni uwongo. Hata hao watu wanasema ati walikomboa huku wakakutana na Majini ni waongo. Mbona wasijitokeze Kwa TV waseme ivo? Tuwaone? ", she asks.

Everyone we spoke to, from the salon lady, to the mtumba guy, from the Kiosk woman to the fellow walking down the road shot down the rumors and made it clear - all this is a made-up fallacy peddled by idle villagers and amplified by an equally-idle social media community.
We later gathered, from very reliable sources, that the owners of the supposed 'Haunted House' are some of the most reputable and high-ranking members of the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and also happen to be the biggest donors in the Church.

"But what do the owners say when they hear about all these reports? Why don't they come out to set the record straight?" , We ask.

"Set the record straight for who? It's their house. Their business. They're not public figures, why should they even care set any record straight?", the couples' close friend asks.

"Whenever we see such reports or hear of such a thing, we call each other or text each other and laugh about it. We laugh so hard. It's no longer a nightmare to us. It's a comic relief," she avows.

And just like with The Cottingley Fairies, The Tiara of Saitaferne and The Piltdown Man, the Ruiru 'Haunted House' may go down as one of the greatest - and silliest - hoaxes of all time.

jln115:
Ill take that as a yes

confirmation bias bruh

jln115:
Pretty much.............but it was worth it

thank me for giving you sth worth doing

TayserMahrii:


Closed for renovations for a year... should be immaculate by the end, more than Michuki

Amina says We need to grow new grass…we need to make sure the place has picnic sites for families so that parents can bring their children and instil a sense of history and a sense of pride.

thanks for that info. But my main concern lies on that huge yellow crane and two huge cement mixer. I think there is something Gothic coming up from that place. We need to dig deep and find out .

TayserMahrii:


thank me for giving you sth worth doing

thanks

TayserMahrii:


confirmation bias bruh

Actually nothing to do with confirmation bias since this has nothing to do how I interpreted what you said.

It was black and white.... You said you've never called me racist, I showed you that you did.... Simple as that

TayserMahrii:


Lol, thought it was jln who got banned...sorry bro. The mods ain't playing

seems we're restricted to some jurisdicticmods bound. The rules have been tighten

Drive Inn Cinema at Galleria Mall, Nairobi..pretty dope concept...

social distance..check...

Movie-in-your-Car...check

TayserMahrii:


Bro is this some bongo sht or sth...?

Bongolalas can't think of such

The stones are actually found in Georgia...its purpose is still unknown but you don't just write any agenda on stone.

People will still call it conspiracy until this isht gets real....500 million people

Shma:
thanks for that info. But my main concern lies on that huge yellow crane and two huge cement mixer. I think there is something Gothic coming up from that place. We need to dig deep and find out .

Its def some major gothic stuff.... lets do some digging

jln115:
thanks

welcome

jln115:
Actually nothing to do with confirmation bias since this has nothing to do how I interpreted what you said.

It was black and white.... You said you've never called me racist, I showed you that you did.... Simple as that

you took my statement and interpreted how you want thats some bias right there

Shma:
seems we're restricted to some jurisdicticmods bound. The rules have been tighten

theres an agenda

TayserMahrii:


you took my statement and interpreted how you want thats some bias right there

Well did you not call me a racist?

Saddamochieng00:


Bongolalas can't think of such

The stones are actually found in Georgia...its purpose is still unknown but you don't just write any agenda on stone.

People will still call it conspiracy until this isht gets real....500 million people

Dude you know a lot of these spooky spooky... 500 thats massive depopulation

jln115:
Well did you not call me a racist?

you only concerned about racist but not cvnt?

TayserMahrii:


you only concerned about racist but not cvnt?

pretty much since you never claimed that you've never called me a cvnt.

TayserMahrii:


Dude you know a lot of these spooky spooky... 500 thats massive depopulation

It seems it really pissed people off

jln115:
Well did you not call me a racist?

I called you a racist cvnt...obviously you aren't a cvnt and so you're not racist too. If you took it seriously you'd have complained about cvnt too.

jln115:
pretty much since you never claimed that you've never called me a cvnt.

Simply means you're a cvnt...though not racist

Saddamochieng00:


It seems it really pissed people off

Ofcourse D. Rockefella that dude was too rich

TayserMahrii:


Ofcourse D. Rockefella that dude was too rich

Just some of his most famous quotes

Saddamochieng00:
When someone's asks a conspiracy theorist for concrete evidence.

Get it "concrete"

They even have it in Swahili....@Kazikazi you should have helped the elite with the translation

@Taysermahrii @Mtisthequbit @Kikuyu1 what's your take on this

The Georgia Guidestones where the Illuminati came out with their depopulation agenda....but ofc people still squeal "conspiracy theory!"

Saddamochieng00:


Just some of his most famous quotes

The original...

TayserMahrii:
@Saddam "mtisthequbit

your haunted house was a hoax

How The Ruiru ‘Haunted House’ Became One of The Biggest National Hoaxes of All Time

That house scary as fvck!!!

TayserMahrii:


Simply means you're a cvnt...though not racist

yeah, I won't argue that sometimes I can be a cvnt, but I aint a racist....