tawandamusarurwa
OVER the past four months, property worth thousands of dollars went up in smoke in four different incidents reported in the newly established Checheche town.
The sad development has been described by locals as “the curse of Checheche”.
Although no fatalities were recorded, nothing was recovered from the four fire incidents.
Residents believe the mysterious infernos were as a result of a third force.
The first incident was at Kujo Shop in November 2022. Nyamanhoma Shop was then razed in December last year, while Hlomani Shop followed in January this year.
Last month saw Chiororo Shop also being razed by a mysterious fire.
What baffles Checheche residents the most is that three of these shops caught fire at night, when there was no electricity, thereby ruling out electrical faults. A vendor, Claris Chirasha, said they suspect witchcraft is at play.
“The truth is that all these shops were successful and were the talk of the town. They caught fire when they were at the peak of their business operations and on everyone’s lips. This is why we are suspecting witchcraft,” she said.
Taurai Munongorerwa said he was keeping his fingers crossed as he fears his business might be next.
“Honestly, we are wondering whose shop will be next because we no longer know if these infernos are caused by electrical faults or are man-made. They could be arson attacks from jealous people or they could be an act of witchcraft. Fire cannot just start and burn down a whole shop just like that. It is getting scary,” he said.
Another resident and businessman, Taurai Hlomani, spoke about his shop that was razed during the night of January 6. The shop — Sandak Centre — specialised in plastic shoes and utensils.
“I had gone to church and my wife and kids were sleeping in the shop. There were five people in the shop. Since it was a busy season, we were staying at the shop and not at home.
“My wife said, around midnight, she felt a lot of heat, both from the floor and in the air. When she went into the next room to investigate, she realised the shop was on fire. She managed to wake up the children and they escaped unhurt. Had she not felt that heat, they would have all perished in that fire.
“When I arrived from church, the shop had been reduced to a shell. Nothing was salvaged from the inferno. There was no electricity on the day, therefore, we rule out an electrical fault,” he said.
When the Green Fuel fire brigade arrived on the scene, the shop’s roof had already collapsed.
Hlomani said he lost goods worth R200 000 and has since been asked to repair the rented shop by its owners by June this year.
A few shops away, Chiororo Shop remains deserted as it was also razed by a blaze during the early hours of February 16.
In an interview, the owner’s brother, Richman Chiororo, said the cause of the fire could not be established. They, however, suspect an electrical fault caused the fire. Checheche Town does not have a fire brigade yet. — Manica Post
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Fight over stove turns nasty
A Bulawayo woman is at loggerheads with her sister-in-law after she reportedly invited a prophet to conduct a cleansing ceremony, claiming she was a witch.
For Nethi Chikwena, who was staying at her husband’s house in Pumula East suburb with some tenants, all was well until her sister-in-law Ndakaitei Chikwena came to stay with them. According to Nethi, her relationship with her sister-in-law soured after they had an argument over the use of the stove.
She said, after their run-in, her sister-in-law insulted her and even branded her a witch.
Nethi reported her to the police and officers from the Victim Friendly Unit engaged them to resolve their dispute.
It, however, did not work out.
While Nethi was at home, she was shocked to see her sister-in-law and a prophet stepping into the living room.
The prophet held her head and started spraying her with water mixed with salt, claiming there was a witch in the house.
Apparently, her ordeal was just beginning.
Her sister-in-law later teamed up with her brother-in-law, Langton Chikwena, to harass the tenants, whom they ordered to vacate the house.
Nethi went to the Western Commonage Court and applied for a protection order against both her sister-in-law and brother-in-law. In response, Ndakatei denied the allegations levelled against her by Nethi.
“We are living peacefully together,” she responded.
The magistrate then asked her what had brought them to court, to which she replied: “We had an argument over the use of the stove and who was supposed to clean it.”
Langton added: “I never harassed the tenants. When I went to their place, I was only there to see my sister.”
The presiding magistrate granted Nethi the protection order. Ndakaitei was ordered not to evict the tenants without a court order and also not to send agents to verbally and physically abuse Nethi. Langton was similarly ordered not to evict the tenants. — B-Metro
Online Reporter