: Date with child-killer’s n’anga

Date with child-killer’s n’anga
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Lovemore Chikova on 21 November, 2009 01:27:00
 
— kill all his livestock, torch his home and commit suicide last month? Well,
it appears the answer will remain a mystery as long as those suspected to have
some inside information do not open up.
Earlier investigations by The Sunday Mail In-Depth pointed accusing fingers to a
Chipinge traditional healer whom Mupombwa (41) visited a week before he
committed the gory acts.
The traditional healer, Fukuzeya Chinyangana, was accused by Mupombwa’s
relatives of having given him wealth-enhancing charms. The charms were said to
have backfired when Mupombwa attempted to return them to Chinyangana who
demanded that he also hands over all the possessions he acquired using the
charms, including his children.
This was said to have enraged Mupombwa, who ended up axing his five children,
killing five cattle, 20 goats and 17 chickens and torching two houses before
committing suicide.
The Sunday Mail In-Depth last week visited Chinyangana in the Mbeure area of
Chipinge in a bid to unearth what exactly transpired during the two weeks
Mupombwa was at the traditional healer’s home.
Mupombwa left behind a journal detailing his two-week stay at Chinyangana’s
home, but he never disclosed why he had visited him and what he was instructed
to do.
The healer reacted with anger when told of the bizarre acts Mupombwa had
committed.
“If he did that, then it was stupid of him,” he said. “I know him quite
well from the two weeks he stayed here. He always acted like a confused man and
this is the first time that I am hearing that he committed such crimes.”
Chinyangana said Mupombwa left his home after two weeks of “intensive
treatment”, promising that he would return in a few days with his father,
mother and sister.
“So, who is going to pay me for the treatment that I gave him while he was
here for the two weeks?” he said.
“I want my money because I had charged him R500, only to discover that he was
broke. But when he arrived here he claimed to have a lot of money in a satchel
he was carrying.”
Chinyangana features heavily in Mupombwa’s diary. But the healer has a
different view of his former patient.
“He came and told me that he had goblins which he wanted to return to their
original owner in Mozambique, but he said the unfortunate part was that the
owner was now dead,” said Chinyangana.
“But his story kept on changing and at times he would tell me that his
parents, together with his sister, owned the goblins.
“Sensing this confusion, I agreed to treat him for sometime before I asked him
to go and fetch his parents and sister so that I could deal with the matter in
their presence.”
Chinyangana said the last day he saw Mupombwa was when he willingly left his
home.
“I am still waiting for him to come back,” said Chinyangana. “If he is
dead for sure, then his parents must make efforts to bring the consultation fees
which I charged him.”
Throughout the interview, Chinyangana kept on shaking his head at intervals and
uttering the words: “Mari yangu kani”. (Oh! my money). Chinyangana said
Mupombwa had a severe rash all over his body.
His former patient, he said, arrived at his home in early October carrying a
small satchel, which he claimed was full of money. Chinyangana said Mupombwa
behaved weirdly as he would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night naked
and head for the nearby bush.
But Mupombwa claimed in the diary he left, that part of his treatment included
being sent into the bush while naked and being treated with potions mixed with
human blood.
“I do not use human blood in any of my treatment,” said Chinyangana.
“Instead, I ask those seeking treatment to bring live chickens whose blood I
use during my treatment.
“He was going out naked during the night on his own and most of the time he
would be phoning his wife whom he always addressed as mudiwa (darling).”
But Chinyangana admitted that he sometimes asked his patients to do their
rituals in the bush as Mupombwa had claimed in his diary. The healer’s
homestead is a hive of activity, with clients sometimes numbering up to 100 at a
time.
There are 20 huts at the homestead, which house the clients and Chinyangana’s
10 wives and some of his 47 children. Chinyangana, who is registered with the
Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association (Zinatha), said he
specialised in exorcising goblins and cleansing avenging spirits, although he
also treated other ailments.
“I was ready to treat that man (Mupombwa) until the goblins left him alone,”
he said. “But he did not want to give me a chance.”
Asked if he had given Mupombwa the goblins, Chinyangana said that was
impossible.
“That man used to suffer and did not sleep at night,” said Chinyangana.
“Since I started my work as a traditional healer, I have never witnessed such
a situation.
“Ini handipi munhu mushonga wekuuraya. Kunyange Zinatha hainditenderi izvozvo
nokuti ndinotorambidzwa kurapa zvachose.” (I do not administer medicine which
kills. This is forbidden by Zinatha and if I do, I can be banned from
practising).
Chinyangana’s son, Tapera, said he met Mupombwa on his way to their homestead
the day he arrived.
“I met him just a few metres from our home and he was talking to himself
saying he was looking for a traditional healer to help him kill his mother,”
said Tapera.
Tapera shared a bedroom hut with Mupombwa. He said Mupombwa had some moments of
rage, but would behave normally at times.
“We used to go and enjoy ourselves at the local township sometimes, but there
were times he was ill-tempered and would complain of high temperature,” said
Tapera.
He said Mupombwa told him that his father had killed one of his friends with a
knife and the spirit was now haunting their family. He always spoke of goblins
which he said tortured him.
“Rimwe zuva aida kuenda ndisati ndapedza kumurapa. Akangoti ndine chikwambo
chinondisveta ropa saka ndoda kuenda, (One day he wanted to leave before I
finished treating him. He said there was a goblin which was sucking his
blood),” said the healer.
Chinyangana said Mupombwa had become so broke that he was always attempting to
borrow some money from some of his clients. Chinyangana is apparently one of the
most popular traditional healers in Chipinge district.
One of the clients at his home was Chief Musikavanhu’s emissary, Ephraim
Musavengana, who said he had been sent by the chief to collect Chinyangana to
treat a mentally ill person in one of the villages.
And Chinyangana claimed that his popularity had led to some well-known
politicians (names supplied) and businessmen consulting him. Some of the tools
of the trade used by Chinyangana include a small glass screen, which he said
reflects the images of witches and wizards. But one has to be naked during the
ceremony to be able to summon the witches to appear on the glass. This type of
treatment is confirmed by Mupombwa in his diary.
Chinyangana said he had no problems fending for his large family and sexually
satisfying his 10 wives.
“Ho-ho-ho, ndiri bhusvumani chaiyo kana tasvika panyaya dzebonde,” he said.
(I am like a bull when it comes to sex). He then challenged The Sunday Mail
In-Depth crew to have a look at some goblins which he claimed he had removed
from his clients.
The crew initially agreed to view the goblins, but backtracked when they were
told they had to be naked to go through the process. Chinyangana has a small
room which he calls a surgery in which those seeking treatment must enter naked.
Mupombwa’s three children, who died in the incident, were buried next to him
in separate graves on the same day. Mupombwa’s wife, Chipo Ndihana, is
reported to have deserted the home and is also refusing to have anything to do
with the two surviving children.