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Ngoni Dapira Weekender Correspondent
A 78-YEAR-OLD Zimunya man from Gwese Village, Leonard Chikomba, allegedly caused his son’s blindness over a R600 debt.
This emerged at acting Chief Zimunya’s court on Sunday when he was hauled before the court by his son, accused of causing his sudden partial blindness because of a R600 debt.
Chikomba, however, denied all the allegations.
To the ire of the crowd at the court, he said he was more than willing to go and consult a traditional healer chosen by the chief to clear his name and help restore his son’s vision.
His 32-year-old son Julius said last year in August he suddenly lost his sight while at work in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He said they had consulted specialists to no avail, only to be told after consulting a local traditional healer that it was their father who was responsible for his condition.
The court was dumbfounded as Julius narrated his ordeal which has rendered him redundant at home for the past year under the care of his sister Mercy.
“I am partially blind and cannot see clearly. We have tried medical doctors, but nothing changed.
“We then consulted a traditional healer, Mbuya Kutadza, and we were told it was our father who caused my ailment. He is an evil man. He also possesses some charms since he is a traditional healer (n’anga), which is why it has been difficult for us to reverse this spell. At some other traditional healers, they were even unable to discover his charms,” said Julius.
Julius said his father threatened to make him blind because of the R600 debt. He said his father was, however, also envious of his success as things were now going well for him, having bought a car last year.
“A few months after his threats to make me blind, I turned blind in broad daylight while at work.
“Every time our father threatened anyone with death, it happened the exact way. Our mother was threatened with death and she stroked in a few days’ time exactly as he had said it. My elder brother was told he would die from a car accident and it happened.
“Our family is perishing, the reason we came here for your assistance,” said a distraught Julius.
Mercy said their father had at one point confessed to the witchcraft allegations.
“He is acting like an innocent man, decent now, but this man is evil. He admitted that he cast a spell on Julius causing his blindness because of the R600 that he (Julius) owed him. Our father also accuses Julius of being stubborn.
“All female children in our family are widows and we suspect our father’s hand in our misfortunes. Our husbands died after a short interval. He does not even care.
“For the past year he has shown no remorse for his son’s blindness.
“He is wicked which is why we got the traditional healer recently, to destroy all his paraphernalia of charms. This spell should be reversed and Julius should have his sight restored,” demanded Mercy.
Chikomba admitted that there were ‘tools of the trade’ (mukwarakwata, ndiro yepachikuva and machira emusha) removed from his house by a traditional healer, but denied ever killing anyone or blinding his son.
He said the ‘tools of the trade’ discovered at his house were ancestral possessions which were never used for anything bad.
“I am not a traditional healer, but my late mother was a traditional healer. She possessed all the paraphernalia in question.
“The paraphernalia are ancestral possessions and are passed from one generation to another,” said the frail-looking white-haired Chikomba, to the jeers of many at the court who failed to believe him.
Acting Chief Zimunya instructed Chikomba to look for $150 and come back to his court on November 23.
He said the $150 would be used for consultation at a traditional healer who would help restore his son’s sight and also ascertain whether he was behind the evils detailed at the court.
Online Reporter