Online Reporter
Mkhululi Ncube
FOR 72 endless hours, Zimbabwe held its breath. A tiny child was missing, a family was breaking, and a nation was glued to glowing phone screens as the face of baby Asanda Charisma Ndlovu flooded Facebook timelines and WhatsApp statuses. It was a nightmare that began quietly in Bulawayo and ended as the most beautiful story Zimbabwe has ever heard.
The baby girl was snatched in broad daylight, plunging her parents into a darkness no words can fully capture. For the tot’s father, Ayibongwe Ndlovu, those hours were not just painful; they were life-altering. In a society where men are taught to swallow tears and harden their hearts, he broke down. And in doing so, he showed the nation something powerful; that emotion in a man is not weakness, it is a superpower.
“I could not eat. I could not sleep,” he told B-Metro in an exclusive interview. “Every time I closed my eyes, I wondered where my daughter was, what she was being fed, and whether she was crying.”
As if the pain was not enough, social media turned cruel. Fingers pointed at him. Whispers accused him of being involved in his own child’s disappearance. Even some relatives doubted him. The emotional weight nearly crushed him, yet he refused to turn that pain on his wife.
“I never blamed her,” he said softly. “If I did, she might not have survived it. She may even have committed suicide.”
“It was very hard but we kept on praying as a family and we had to look for help and Prophet Ngwenya is one of the people we were referred to for help by someone. I am not a person who follows prophets but we had to go. God heard our prayers and those offered by prophet Ngwenya and many other people who were praying with us,” he said
“I could not eat even when I felt hungry. Sleeping was also hard because when I closed my eyes I would think of where my daughter was and what she was doing,” he said.
Ndlovu said his wife is not yet back at work as she needs to recover for the ordeal and make sure their baby is fully recovered.
As the nation prayed, hope arrived from an unexpected place. The desperate parents were referred to popular Bulawayo prophet Thabiso Ndlovu, affectionately known as Prophet Ngwenya. Deeply touched, he refused payment and offered prayers, even performing a midnight “bombing”.
Bombing, in simple terms, is a faith ritual where the prophet instructs his clients to write their problems on paper, placed in a bottle, prayed over and smashed. Believers say it symbolises destroying the problem completely.
“I waited for midnight,” the prophet told B-Metro. “I prayed alone. I believe that prayer unlocked the mystery.”
The very next day, baby Asanda was found alive.
Joy exploded across the country. Tears flowed freely, from strangers, from neighbours, from hardened men who suddenly felt again. The suspected kidnapper, a 14-year-old girl, was arrested. Ndlovu has chosen forgiveness.
“I have forgiven her whole heartedly but I was touched that such a young girl could do that. I would love for her to get help in whatever form because clearly she needs some deliverance. She is too young to be involved in such issues,” he said.
He also had some advice for vendors working with children in the streets and parents in general.
“I know things are hard for them but its best to get someone to look after your child at home. If you cannot afford a helper get a family member to assist.
“You are never careful enough to be with a child on the streets because children are hyperactive. People can do anything for money, let us be careful,” he said.
Asanda is now safe, recovering from stomach pains and night frights that briefly followed her rescue. Her mother remains off-work, healing alongside her child.
This story broke Zimbabwe, and healed it too. It reminded us that when men cry, families survive. When communities unite, evil struggles to hide. And when a nation loves loudly, even kidnappers have nowhere to run.
