Andrew
Disability Issues
Dr Christine Peta
IN most African countries, including Zimbabwe, disabilities in children are generally regarded as stemming from parental violation of taboos.
These include extramarital sex, incest and, in some instances, sleeping with a ghost.
Historically, children with disabilities were dealt with in three ways.
They would be killed, be assigned to a traditional healer for treatment or be hidden somewhere within the family sphere.
In Tanzania, people with albinism continue to be mutilated or killed for ritual purposes, while back home, the practice of hiding children with disabilities due to shame is still prevalent.
However, the killing of children with disabilities has now been discontinued in Zimbabwe.
Such past and present practices serve as a barometer that can be used to measure the extent to which people in Africa, including our country, are fearful of disabilities.
In Zimbabwe, disability is also traditionally believed to be caused by spirits, which come in various forms. Mamhepo (a malevolent spirit) is believed to be the kind that can easily be thrown at another person by people who are jealous of that individual’s success or, who, for one reason or another, harbour bitterness, anger or hatred towards that person.
Such spirits are understood to be the ones that can cause another person to be injured, to be ill or to acquire disabilities.
In addition, it is generally believed that people who cast mamhepo on others are so evil that they can even lob a spell on a pregnant woman so that she gives birth to a child or children with disabilities.
Others can cause the child or children to acquire disabilities later on in life.
Traditionalists also believe in the spirit of ngozi (avenging spirit), which is the spirit of a deceased person, whose death is alleged to have been instigated by another individual.
The belief is that the avenging spirit rises from the grave and can cause all sorts of misfortune, disability included.
Local literature also indicates that mudzimu (benevolent spirit) is the spirit of a deceased elderly member of the family such as a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother.
Such a spirit is regarded as the first point of connection in a very long string of ancestors who mediate with God for the protection of all surviving members of the deceased’s family.
The belief is that mudzimu is responsible for taking care of all surviving family members of the deceased by protecting them from all forms of vulnerabilities that include disabilities.
However, when the spirit is offended or disrespected, it may retaliate by taking away its shield of protection, resulting in an errant family being exposed to all kinds of vulnerabilities, which commonly include illness, injury, disabilities or death.
People are expected to ensure they keep mudzimu happy at all times by maintaining peaceful family relations, taking good care of any possessions the deceased may have left behind, and carrying out regular traditional ceremonies in commemoration of the departed.
The traditional custom of hosting an annual beer party to remember the ancestors is, therefore, a widely accepted ritual for reverencing mudzimu.
In Zimbabwe, witchcraft is also widely believed to be one of the major causes of disabilities.
The skewed delineation of witchcraft by colonisers resulted in controversy between believers and non-believers of witchcraft, resulting in different beliefs extending to the courts of law.
Consequently, contemporary courts viewed witchcraft as a myth and a belief that needed to be eradicated, while traditional courts believed in the existence of witchcraft.
The Witchcraft Suppression Act (1899:73) was never held in high esteem by traditional courts that viewed it “as a very unjust piece of legislation because the aim of the Act was not to punish witches but individuals who name others as witches”.
The Act was revised in 2006, and the commission of witchcraft was defined as a criminal offence, under which people would be punished through the payment of a penalty fee or a jail term spanning a period of as long as five years.
While the amendments criminalise the hiring of a witch or the helping of other people to commit witchcraft, it also protects people who are irrationally accused of engaging in witchcraft.
Although some witches in Zimbabwe have confessed in churches or at other platforms that they practise witchcraft, very few witchcraft studies have been carried out in the country.
The tools of the trade have never been collected or examined. There is a widely held belief that people who claim to be witches suffer from mental disabilities.
Way forward
On August 23, 2022, the ZimStat director-general presented a preliminary report on a functional module of the 2022 National Population and Housing Census.
In this report, causes of disabilities are attributed to biology.
Topping the list of causes of disabilities in Zimbabwe are reportedly illness and ageing.
There is, therefore, need to undertake research on the intersection of disability, culture and biology, with the aim of informing both policy and practice.
Dr Christine Peta is a disability, policy, international development and research expert, who is the national director of Disability Affairs in Zimbabwe. She can be contacted on: [email protected]
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