BULAWAYO - Members of Zion Church are wrecking havoc in Tsholotsho District in Matabeleland North where they are reportedly conducting a door-to-door search for evil spirits, an act said to be causing social disharmony in the community.The area councillor Willard Moyo, said Zion church members calling themselves Wafawafa, have caused untold mayhem to villagers they accuse of witchcraft.
These people are terrorising this area of Madlangombe. Villagers are forced to surrender traditional items deemed evil to church members. Wafawafa has terrorised the community for the past two months resulting in people being humiliated in public and relations being strained, he said.
The church members are reportedly getting information from children about their families whether they are traditionalists or Christians.
One of the villagers who fell prey to these members, Johnson Malaba, a member of Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha), said he was greatly disturbed by the manner in which church members approached him and his family.
They came to my home and ordered me to give them all that I used for healing people including my Zinatha certificate. After noting that I was not giving in, they forcibly went into my house and started searching. They took all my Zinatha items including my certificate and burnt it, said Malaba.
He said members of Zion church treated him in an inhuman manner that was full of disrespect and the people in the community have since started seeing him as an evil man.
It is very surprising that they call themselves the anointed ones. We therefore expect them to lead by example. What they did to my home was unchristian like because they jeopardised my privacy. Is it the Bible that they read that teaches them to be disrespectful and to treat other like objects, he said, visibly angry.
Villagers said the Zion members alleged that they are cleansing the community following the death of a donkey and a beast which were struck by lightning early this year.
A church leader from Brethren in Christ Church, Reverent Malachi Ncube, condemned the chaos that Zion members have caused in the community.
This church does not worship the true God. What they did to these vulnerable villagers inflicted more pain and embarrassment than comfort. As church leaders and members we are expected to be humble and loving, he said.
Most people claimed that they were labelled witches because they possessed a common cloth used by ancestral spirit mediums (Ilembu lamadlozi). Many people in Ndebele and Shona cultures who believe in traditional practices wear this cloth.
Villagers have since reported the matter to Zimbabwe Republic Police
(ZRP) in Tsholotsho. After reporting the matter, Malaba said Zion members came back and accused villagers of backbiting.
Post published in: Politics