Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A WOMAN from Honde Valley has approached Chief Mutasa’s community court, pleading with her family to accept the ancestral spirit of her late grandmother, which she claims has been manifesting on her for over a decade.
Mirriam Makununika told the court that her father, Kudakwashe Makununika, has continuously rejected the spiritual revelations she has been experiencing since 2012, insisting that she is being tormented by goblins (zvikwambo), rather than the family’s ancestral spirit (mudzimu).
“I have suffered for too long. I need my family to acknowledge that this is real and that it stems from our bloodline. This is my grandmother’s spirit, my father’s own mother. How can they not believe me?” said Mirriam, tears welling up in her eyes.
She recounted how the spiritual experiences began while she was working in South Africa.
“In 2012, I was staying in South Africa when I fell ill. I sought medical attention, but no diagnosis was made. Eventually, a traditional healer told me that I was being called by ancestral spirits and that I had to return to Zimbabwe to inform my family,” she said.
Mirriam said upon informing her father, his reaction was both painful and unexpected.
“He told me that I sounded like I was not even his child. He accused me of being used by goblins and dismissed everything I told him. I returned to South Africa, but the spirit’s manifestations worsened. I would collapse at work and I would speak in strange languages. My life became unbearable,” she recounted.
It was only after her brother took her to a healer in Zimbabwe that the matter was taken seriously.
“The spirit requested that both our parents attend, so we informed our father again. This time, he gathered other relatives and we all went to consult together.
“In 2014, we returned to Zimbabwe and my father accompanied us to a healer who confirmed that it was an ancestral spirit of my grandmother,” she said, adding that her father eventually took the matter to a well-known Harare traditional healer, Sekuru Tasvu, whose diagnosis only deepened the rift.
“Sekuru Tasvu claimed that it was an avenging spirit tormenting me, not an ancestral one. He treated me like a suspect, as if I had committed some atrocity and was now being haunted by a spirit. Yet, the visions I have had and the things I have been saying clearly indicate that it is my grandmother’s spirit,” said Mirriam.
She told the court that the situation had made her an outcast in her family.
“Everyone looks at me with suspicion, treating me as if I were possessed by an evil spirit. I am here today so that the court can help determine the truth. If this spirit is not acknowledged and appeased, my suffering will not end. My father even accused me of having acquired some dangerous charms in South Africa,” she said.
Makununika, stood his ground during the court session, expressing doubts about the authenticity of the spirit.
“The first healer advised us to brew traditional beer to cleanse the homestead and accept the spirit, but I was not convinced. That is why I took the family to Sekuru Tasvu, who said it was an avenging spirit.
“We followed his instructions and performed the prescribed rituals. However, we are now considering consulting a third healer to confirm everything,” he told the court, while expressing disbelief that his late mother would choose to manifest through his daughter.
“I simply do not understand it. Why her? Why now? My mother never mentioned anything about this before she passed away,” he quipped.
After listening to both sides, Chief Mutasa urged the family to work together, rather than allowing spiritual differences to tear them apart.
“This is not about who is right or wrong. What is important is that your daughter is suffering, and she believes it is linked to your bloodline. You must not dismiss her pain,” he said.
Chief Mutasa recommended that the Makununikas seek counsel from a third, neutral traditional healer to gain clarity.
“Your daughter cannot carry this burden alone. Even if you do not fully believe, your support could be the difference between her healing and further torment,” advised Chief Mutasa, further reminding the court that ancestral issues are deeply tied to family unity and identity.
“Spirits, whether avenging or ancestral, always return to bloodlines. As a family, you must face them together,” said Chief Mutasa.
The case was adjourned to a later date to allow the family to consult a third healer.
