Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A HONDE Valley man, Tonderai Nyambudzi, has turned to Chief Mutasa’s community court for help after a spirit — identifying itself as Matonongore Chimwaza — allegedly declared that the son he fathered nearly 30 years ago is not his “spiritually or traditionally.”
Nyambudzi told the court last Saturday that he now lives in fear and confusion, and has even contemplated “dumping” the child on the late mother’s family.
He said the spirit has been manifesting, insisting that he unlawfully took its child decades ago.
The case, which traces back almost three decades, was adjourned while Chief Mutasa ordered further investigations and possible mediation with the child’s maternal relatives.
The chief cautioned that such spiritual claims must be handled carefully, stressing that any resolution should safeguard the welfare of the child.
“Thirty years ago, I impregnated a young woman from the Machekanzombe family. When I went to pay bride price, her family told me she was ‘married’ to an avenging spirit. They said the child she was carrying belonged to that spirit,” testified Nyambudzi.
He explained that the family had suggested rituals to cleanse the woman and free her from the spirit if he truly wished to marry her.
“They gave me a list of items to buy for the ritual. I was still young then, and I refused. I separated from the girl,” he said.
The woman later died, but years afterward Nyambudzi returned to her rural home to claim the child, who was starting primary school.
“When I went to collect my child, they demanded that I pay chiredzwa. I paid and took him home. I raised him, sent him to school up to Advanced Level. He even went to Botswana for a while, though life became difficult for him there,” Nyambudzi said.
According to him, the son later married, divorced, and eventually disappeared after a misunderstanding between them.
“After a disagreement, he went missing. Then this spirit began manifesting, saying I had taken a child that did not belong to me and that it was the reason everything was not going well. Up to now, my 30 year old son is missing. The spirit insists he is its child, and I have given up. I just want to give them back their son,” Nyambudzi told the court.
During the court session, a spirit medium suddenly began shouting and screaming as the alleged avenging spirit made its claim.
“Someone from her family killed me and gave me his daughter as my wife. When Nyambudzi impregnated her, I instructed them on what needed to be done. He refused. After her death, he took my child away,” the alleged spirit declared through the medium.
The spirit accused Nyambudzi of ignoring ritual requirements that could have resolved the matter decades ago.
“He should have bought what was required and performed the rituals. He would have been free from my clutches. Instead, he took what was mine,” charged the spirit.
Nyambudzi told the court he is now prepared to surrender the son to the Machekanzombe family if that will bring peace, but there is one problem.
“The spirit says I cannot return the child because the child is missing. I am asking the court to help me find him so that I can surrender him and end this torment,” he said.
Daniel Machekanzombe, brother to the late woman, dismissed the spiritual involvement in the young man’s disappearance and offered a different explanation for the young man’s disappearance.
“The avenging spirit was already appeased. Our sister was married to the deceased man in the spiritual sense, and that issue was settled,” Machekanzombe told the court.
He insisted that Nyambudzi’s refusal to perform rituals at the beginning created confusion, but denied that the missing man’s disappearance had anything to do with an avenging spirit.
“The real reason the child ran away is because Nyambudzi assaulted him after they had a disagreement. What grown man, who has even been married before, would tolerate being beaten by his father? He left because of abuse, not because of any spirit,” said Machekanzombe, and further revealed that when his sister died, Nyambudzi took the boy away.
He said the family had offered another relative to the avenging spirit.
“The spirit is of Matonongore Chimwaza. We gave it my own son. His whole family now carries the name Matonongore. That issue was resolved,” he said.
Chief Mutasa ruled that customary processes must be properly understood before conclusions are drawn.
“We cannot resolve such a sensitive matter with only part of the families present. All the concerned families — Chimwaza, Nyambudzi and Machekanzombe — must be summoned. It is Chimwaza who was supposed to pay maredzwa to Nyambudzi, not Nyambudzi paying to the Machekanzombe family,” he observed.
Chief Mutasa advised Nyambudzi to meet the conditions that were set if he still wants the missing man to be considered his child. He instructed the spirit, through the medium, to assist in locating the missing man.
“If indeed you claim this child, help him return home so that this matter can be properly concluded,” said the chief.
Chief Mutasa adjourned the case to allow all affected families to appear before the court, expressing hope that clarity will emerge regarding both the spiritual claims and the young man’s whereabouts.
