Moffat Mungazi
Weekender Reporter
A MAKONI family is at loggerheads over the traditional paraphernalia used by their late mother who was a healer, amid accusations and counter accusations among the clan that one of them was misusing them to harm others.
Mark Mbodza dragged his young brother, Zebadiah to Chief Makoni’s community court where he wanted to be compensated with one beast for allegedly being labelled a wizard by Zebediah. Zebediah alleged that Mark was inflicting his sons with unexplained illnesses.
Mark told the court that Zebadiah had a long standing habit of pointing accusing fingers at him, and his child, Norman, had joined the fray.
He alleged that the duo, armed with a sword forcibly took his traditional paraphernalia and wife’s undergarments, and burnt them under the instructions of a prophet.
“My brother has a habit of accusing me of wizardly. He has been doing this for a long time. He shouts at night that I should come and collect my snakes which makes him fail to sleep. I have been restraining myself because he is my brother. He is now accusing me of causing his children’s illness. He also claiming that I am in possession of our mother’s traditional paraphernalia causing his sons’ illness.
“Recently they brought a prophet who grabbed the paraphernalia. At first I wanted to resist, but his son, Norman, was armed with a sword which he used to threaten me. Zebadiah was once assaulted by his sons and lost a number of teeth, so I was afraid of being mugged. They forcibly entered my house and grabbed my ancestral paraphernalia and wife’s pants, and burnt them.
“Zebadiah and his children once sprayed salt at our parents’ graves. I don’t possess any juju. I was a prominent boxer in Harare during my heydays, but never used charms on my relatives. I am surprised by what Zebadiah is doing to me. I want a beast from him for falsely accusing me,” said Mark.
Zebadiah denied ever accusing his brother of wizardly, and asked the court to allow his son, Norman, to narrate events leading to the burning of the paraphernalia.“I have never pointed an accusing finger at my brother. I am not aware of any prophets visiting his homestead. My son who was there can explain the whole issue,” said Zebadiah.
Norman told the court that together with his young brother they are suffering from strange ailments which hospitals have failed to diagnose and treat.
He said this forced them to seek assistance from a prophet.
Norman said the prophet told him that there was some traditional paraphernalia being used to harm other family members.
“At one time I was seriously ill and went to the hospital, but I did not recover despite the medications that was administered to me. I approached a prophet who advised me that my issue required the intervention of family elders. The prophet said he wanted to engage them. I informed my father about the issues and told him to inform his brothers.
“Later, I went home and told my father and his siblings that the prophet also wanted our maternal uncles to be present. Before the prophet came, we had a clan meeting where I was tasked to explain my issue, and I told them what the prophet had said.
“The uncles expressed ignorance on what happened to the paraphernalia when our grandmother who was a traditional healer passed on. All the Mbodza brothers also denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the paraphernalia. There was an agreement that the family should look for an expert to help solve the mystery.
“We had another meeting with our late grandmother’s relatives, and the uncles gave me the nod to hire the services of the prophet I had consulted earlier on. The prophet took us to our late grandmother’s deserted homestead. He repeated his claims that there was traditional paraphernalia being misused in the family, and causing problems in the clan.
“Our late grandmother’s relatives asked Mark, Zebediah and their other siblings if they know of the existence of the paraphernalia, and all denied any knowledge. The prophet narrated all the events happening in the family. The prophet pointed at Mark, telling him that he was in possession of the paraphernalia. There was heated debate between the two. The prophet also said Mark had used the paraphernalia to land the village headmanship (sabhuku) post.
“Mark later admitted being in possession of the paraphernalia which he said was his personal stuff, not our late grandmother’s. He said he was prepared to dispose them. He also said he was in possession of other paraphernalia. People were so excited, and ululated after his confession. He said it was dark, and could not see properly, and my brother and I accompanied him to his homestead. He voluntarily unlocked the doors, and called me to light the cellphone torch so that he could see clearly.
“He retrieved the paraphernalia and ordered his wife to pack them in a plastic carrier bag. The prophet asked our late grandmother’s relatives to identify the paraphernalia which they positively did,” Norman narrated.
Norman further told the court that the family including Mark agreed to burn the paraphernalia.
Chief Makoni said burning of the paraphernalia was not the proper way to dispose them, before ordering the warring family to consult the court’s resident traditional healers.
“The first traditional healer said the family was no longer following some of its traditions. The family admitted that there was once a room that housed a goblin (gona), but it was destroyed by nature, and are not sure on the whereabouts of the goblin. One family member was said to be defending himself from the wrath of this goblin and directing it to other families.
“The family was not satisfied with the first traditional healer’s explanation and requested a second opinion from the other one. The second healer asked them about the whereabouts of the traditional paraphernalia, and he told them that the family problems were being caused by the disposed paraphernalia. He said the paraphernalia was clean as it possessed hunting powers.
“He added that a goblin and the spirit of their late grandmother was in charge of the family. Their late grandmother’s paraphernalia was supposed to be returned to her family upon death. The healer further said that the burning of Mark’s paraphernalia was equally wrong,” said the Chief’s messenger who was giving feedback.
After lengthy deliberations, the family agreed to have a cleansing ceremony to be conducted by Chief Makoni’s traditional healer.
Mark’s demand of a beast from Zebadiah was turned down by the court.
