adminPolice said a group of Gokwe South village heads recently teamed up and visited the town’s police station where they demanded a meeting with the police’s bosses.
They alleged that the village heads requested that the police stop their clampdown on tsikamutandas.
The officer-in-charge of crime at Gokwe Police Station, Assistant Inspector Samuel Tadzaushe, confirmed that the villagers petitioned the police not to arrest the tsikamutandas, arguing that they were doing a good job.
He, however, refused to shed more light on their meeting with the Gokwe village heads referring this reporter to the police acting provincial spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko for a comment.
“We have been approached by some village heads that are requesting police not to arrest tsikamutandas who are operating in Gokwe. You can, however, speak to the village heads themselves or the police provincial spokesperson for a comment,” he said.
Police in Gokwe were arresting tsikamutandas operating in the area following an outcry from some villagers who were seemingly not happy with the inyangas’ operations.
The self-styled inyangas descended in Gokwe about two months ago.
Four suspects, Garizani Anderson Phiri (28), Anus Charuma (26), Petros Sibanda (18), all of Charuma Village, Chief Njelele, and Stewart Serame (25) Gokwe South, were arrested and have since appeared in court.
In an interview, Bejani village head Mr Rodwell Maseko confirmed that they have appealed to the police not to arrest the tsikamutandas operating in their area.
“”The idea of tsikamutandas is not new in our tradition. They are very necessary people in society and should be allowed to conduct their cleansing work without being disturbed. This is why we decided as village heads to go and seek audience with the police over the arrest of tsikamutandas,” he said.
Mr Maseko said he met other village heads and villagers to chart the way forward following the police clamp down on tsikamutandas.
“The police in turn promised us that they would not come and arrest the tsikamutandas for as long as there were no complaints against their operations,” he said.
Another village head, Mr Mike Matshoka, claimed that the tsikamutandas cleansed him after they discovered that he possessed some goblins, which he had inherited from his forefathers.
“We hope police will cooperate and stop arresting these inyangas,” he said.
Chief Njelele also expressed the same sentiments with the villagers in support of the operations of the tsikamutandas.
He said the inyangas operating in his area were cleared by the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association.
“”Some of these inyangas have licences that allow them to practice and if they have these documents, I don’t think there is a problem unless the villagers themselves report them to the police when there are challenges in payment. It is, however, not a new phenomenon for the tsikamutandas to go around cleansing villages,” he said.
Police sources in Gokwe, however, said some villagers were now making use of police suggestion boxes to report the operations of the tsikamutandas in Gokwe.
“After some village heads visited Gokwe Police Station pleading with the police not to arrest the tsikamutandas, some villagers are now not so keen to report them. The villagers allege that some of them were losing beasts to inyangas who are now operating at night. They now make use of police suggestion boxes but they still fail to come out in the open even if the police visit their areas,” said the source.
Online Reporter