Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
THERE was high drama at Chief Mutasa’s community court last Saturday when the alleged spirit of the late Martin Machika, who had supposedly committed suicide, spoke through a relative, demanding justice, and accusing those who discovered his body of murder and staging his hanging.
The spirit claimed that Machika had not taken his own life, as widely believed, but was murdered for ritual purposes.
It also demanded the return of a mysterious bag that went missing on the day of his death, citing its disappearance as proof of foul play.
The case has sent shockwaves through the community who packed the courtroom as people gathered to witness the sensational proceedings.
The testimony presented in court indicates that a villager who allegedly picked up Machika’s bag later had a dream in which the deceased instructed him to hand it over to Godden Chirara, a white garment prophet, and one of the accused.
The spirit claimed Chirara played a central role in his killing.
Through his medium, Machika’s spirit recounted his final hours, claiming he had visited Chirara’s homestead with a friend seeking spiritual help with marital problems.
“I had gone to Chirara’s homestead with my friend to seek his services. His wife and daughters even prepared me food, which I ate. After my friend and I left, we parted ways, but I never made it back home.
Chirara and his accomplices killed me when they saw me and used my body parts for rituals,” the spirit declared, sending chills through the gallery.
The late Machika’s body was later found hanging from a tree in the valley by Patrick Nyatoti, who testified in his defence.
“I was the first to see the body hanging from a tree at sunset. At first, I thought someone was climbing, but when I looked closely, I realised it was a corpse. I was shocked. I called a neighbour, Mabasa. Together we alerted others, including Chirara and Timburwa, who are now my co-accused in this murder case.
“We asked if anyone knew the deceased. Chirara first said he thought he knew him, but later changed and said he didn’t. For the record, I did not know this man, nor did I kill him,” said Nyatoti.
Chirara denied knowing the deceased personally or being involved in his death. “I only recognised him vaguely as someone who had once been to my homestead with a friend, looking for help with marital issues. I did not kill him,” said the prophet, defending himself.
However, when pressed further by Chief Mutasa to use his spiritual powers to shed light on the matter, the courtroom erupted in drama.
Entering into what he claimed was a trance, Chirara alleged that Machika had in fact been killed by his own family.
“He came seeking help over his wife’s infidelity. But the Lord is revealing that we did not kill him. His own older brother, Victor, is responsible. The family knows more than they are saying,” said Chirara.
This sparked outrage in the courtroom as the deceased’s older brother, Victor Machika, stood up in anger to deny the shocking accusation.
“I loved my brother. How can anyone accuse me of killing him? We mourned and buried him, and now we are being dragged into lies.
It is unthinkable,” said Victor.
The Machika family as a whole rejected Chirara’s allegations, insisting they had no hand in his death.
Victor went on to explain the strange circumstances that led to the exhumation and reburial of his brother’s body.
“At first, because it was said he had committed suicide, we buried him in the section of the graveyard reserved for such cases. But we started having strange dreams. Children in our family began manifesting, saying our brother was appearing to them in spirit, insisting he had not taken his own life. We were restless,” said Victor.
The family eventually applied to the police for an exhumation order, which was granted.
“We exhumed him and reburied him in the normal section of the graveyard. After that, the dreams stopped for a while. But later, the manifestations started again. This time, he kept demanding his missing bag, the same bag that vanished on the day he died. He said it holds the truth of what happened to him,” explained Victor.
The issue of the missing bag has since become central to the case, with the court convinced that it may contain clues to what really happened on that fateful day. Chief Mutasa, after hearing the heated testimonies and spiritual revelations, ruled that the matter was too complex to be concluded traditionally.
“This case is not only about family fights or accusations. A life was lost, and there are too many unanswered questions. The disappearance of this bag raises serious suspicions. If indeed foul play was involved, then the law must take its course,” he said.
Chief Mutasa proceeded to hand over the accused men, including Chirara, Nyatoti, and Timburwa, to the police for further investigations, while adjourning the court proceedings to a later date.
