adminSifundiso Ndlovu Chronicle Reporter
BULAWAYO East Member of Parliament Thabitha Khumalo yesterday said she subscribes to the view that the elusive stray lion spotted in the city might be a spirit and called on traditional leaders to conduct some rituals to appease it. The controversial and outspoken MP challenged the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) to come out clear on the stray lion issue and explain why it was taking them long to capture it if it was real.
The lion was first spotted at Dambari near Chipangali on April 25 and has since been seen reportedly seen at Waterford, Riverside and Burnside suburbs that fall under Khumalo’s constituency.
“I read recently in the papers that it’s a spiritual lion,” she said making reference to a traditional healer’s sentiments that the lion was a hovering spirit.
“As a traditionalist and someone who appreciate our culture and heritage I am persuaded to believe it might be so.”
Khumalo said if it is true that the lion was a spirit, it might be that of the paramount Ndebele Kings, Mzilikazi and Lobengula who lived near the area where the lion has been spotted. “If the lion is the spirit of our ancestors like King Mzilikazi and Lobengula, then it should be here to protect us and traditional leaders should perform the necessary rituals to appease it,” she said.
Khumalo said Zimparks would be forgiven for scaling down their tracking operation but urged residents to remain vigilant and desist from travelling at night.
“Zimparks may scale down because if the lion is a spirit they will never capture it. We thought the rangers were experts in wildlife but they have failed,” she said.
Khumalo is no stranger to controversy as she brewed a storm in 2012 when she organised more than 300 prostitutes into forming a commercial sex workers’ union, which she intended to affiliate to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
On Tuesday, a motorist claimed he spotted the king of the jungle around 9PM at Fortunes Gate suburb.
The local councillor, Silas Chigora, recently condemned the Zimparks’ decision to suspend its 24-hour search for the elusive lion, saying it had increased anxiety among residents.
Online Reporter