Bikita is rapidly becoming poltergeist central. Either that or credulity is running rampant in that small rural corner of Zimbabwe.
In an earlier post I described how the Musirinofa family from Muhura village in Bikita claimed to be living in constant fear of being assaulted by stones whenever they set foot outside their home.
That spook may now have a neighbour. According to the a report on Bulawayo news site B-Metro on 24 May, the Makuwe family of Bikita was being haunted by a mysterious force that started fires, threw stones and insulted them in a strange voice. The strange events so scared the family that they left their rural home and moved to a built up area. They believe the attacks may be either a spiritual attack or the work of an avenging spirit, the uzimu or ngozi.
Nineteen year old Obey Makuwe told B-Metro reporter Gibson Mhaka:
“We are living in fear. We are afraid the remaining structures will also burn down at any time, hence some family members ran away and people are always asking me why I remained behind. We do not know what wrong we have done to deserve such pain and mysterious occurrences in our family. The rocks have been falling mysteriously from the sky for months and are not just damaging houses but have also caused physical injuries to us. We are also being insulted by strange voices whenever we try to put out the fire.”
According to Obey, the events started in January 2017:
“This fire is mysterious because it is not a result of an electrical fault or bush fires. One just notices that fire from nowhere; it will start burning and before you know it, it has started destroying houses. This started in January last year, but no life has been lost since the outbreak. I don’t know the meaning of this strange fire which cannot be traced to a cause”.
A neighbour of the Makuwe’s believes the outbreak was supernatural: “Maybe it is ngozi (avenging spirit) or something else” he said. “It is quite abnormal for fire to appear from nowhere and start destroying properties within the family”.
Reporter Gibson Mhaka told the Cropster that he felt the family was sincere. While visiting the house he claimed to have heard the the strange voices. Their photographer was also pelted with stones – from nowhere.
I asked Gibson what did the voices sounded like. He told me: “They sounded male and words were not properly coming out. It was like someone who was hallucinating… the photographer and some guys who have accompanied us to the house at the instigation of the Chief also heard the strange voices.”
Chief Mpakwa said the incident was a first for the area. “We fear for the worst. It is unbelievable that houses can be burnt without any cause. This is scary not only for the family but for the whole village. We call upon those who have better knowledge on things like this to come and assist this family and the community,” Chief Mpakwa said.
Hold on, Chief Mpakwa. The Cropster may be coming.
