The Sunday News
. . . voluntarily remove goblins, hyena tails and clay pots with blood from their homes
GOKWE villagers marked Easter celebrations in a different fashion by removing goblins, hyena tails and clay pots with blood from their homes, with some villagers begging traditional healers to cleanse and free them from the evils of witchcraft.
Gokwe has been synonymous with weird acts including women waking up with no undergarments, a hare with seen with earrings and also a bird flying away with a child.
It was an explosive time when villagers convened at Madzivanzira Village for Easter celebrations.
“I can confirm that we had our Easter where people with different problems were healed. There were five different families who I remember complained that their goblins were tormenting them. Fortunately, their homesteads were nearby and we went and killed the goblins,” said Thomas Lunga, who is also the same healer who once removed a hare with earrings from one homestead in Gokwe.
“There was also a woman who had brought a hyena’s tail. After a long battle trying to burn that tail, she confessed that she always carried it whenever she went. For that day, I guess she wanted to use it for some acts of witchcraft on some members who came for assistance.
“Witchcraft is not something which some people enjoy. For some, the spirits of witchcraft were passed on to them without their knowledge and in that case some try by all means to be cleansed. There were many people who begged me to remove such spirits. Some were tired of being witches yet others were not happy at all of embarking on such an evil act.”
Lunga also added that besides the acts of witchcraft which dominated the gathering, there was also a mentally challenged girl who went home free after she was delivered from mental illness.
Village head Enock Matorwa said the area had a blessed week because they were doing all they could do to make Gokwe free of witchcraft.
“We always want to rebrand Gokwe. There is a lot of witchcraft in the area but we want our area to be known for growing cotton. We are happy to have healers who will come to clean the area. What happened during Easter is not the best that we want. We want to clean the area so that we cannot be viewed as a place of witchcraft,” said headman Mutorwa.
Chief Njelele, under whose area of jurisdiction the gathering took place, confirmed that there was an Easter gathering but could not give more details, as he did not attend the meeting.
