Fear grips Chitungwiza after horror blast

CHITUNGWIZA residents insist that black magic could have caused the mysterious explosion that killed five people on Monday afternoon, although experts insist that it was a bomb blast.

While police and army experts were busy examining evidence collected from the scene to get the real cause of the explosion, neighbours of the late traditional healer, Speakmore Mandere, are now living in fear and say nothing explains the cause of the blast except black magic.

The blast has become a subject of animated discussions. The late traditional healer was popular. According to Mandere’s neighbours, the young healer dealt with an elite class of clients. “There is nothing like a bomb in this issue,” said Gift Koke.

“It is a pure case of black magic which went wrong. We know this guy as a man who was a traditional healer. He was never involved in any fights with anyone in this community or anything that makes us thinks it is bomb.”

Another resident, Dumi Kapfeni says different people visited him for assistance, a development that made him extremely popular. “He was overpowered by the spirits of a person he was assisting. There is nothing like a bomb to talk about,” said Kapfeni.

Fear has also engulfed the area, with children no longer feeling safe to play outside their homes, even during the day. Daniel Jahwa says he suspects black magic considering the impact and depth of the damage.

“If it was a bomb it could have resulted in fire at least, if it was lightning, people would have been burnt,” he said.

“But in this case no one was burnt. I think it is black magic which was done by a powerless person.”

While the black magic theory seems to be popular with many, Kokerai Mukaro says people should shun magic and sorcery as this endangers their lives.

“No one has power to assist you in life except God. Those who doubted the existence of witchcraft should have been there to see what damage it caused on people’s lives,” Mukaro said.

Vimbiso Koke said since the blast occured nightmares and bad dreams continue to haunt her sleep. “We are still shocked, children no longer walk at night, even those who used to come home late have since changed their timetables,” she said.

For Victoria Zarangera, a neighbour to the late n’anga, says for her this was a double tragedy. She said despite grappling with the enduring effect all this will have on her children, they also face the spectre of being homeless and living with horrific memories of the explosion for the rest of their lives.

“Even if government was to rebuild my house, I can tell you it will be difficult for us to sleep in those houses,” she said.

“If it was possible, council should just allocate us new stands so that we start life afresh.

“Right now we have nowhere to go because they promised to provide tents but as you can see, nothing is here yet, hopefully by day-end something will be there.

“Even if we have shelter today, the trauma and shock we experienced will be difficult to forget. Our children need psychologists so that their conditions are dealt with accordingly,” added Zarangera. Daily News