Branton Matondo
Traditional leaders and social custodians in Mutare have raised concerns on of rituals acts performed in water bodies saying they angered the spirits which led to the death of two young men at Fern Valley dam recently.
Fern Valley dam was another death scene on the 6th of August when two young men drowned while trying to save another young man and a lady prophet who was alleged to exorcising or performing a ritual ceremony with a lady prophet.
Speaking to TellZim News, Ward 10 Councilor Calvin Matsiya said though death incidences occur on yearly basis the tolerance of ritual acts popularly referred to as ‘Mashai’ was getting worse in Fern Valley and result in death cases to who wanderers in the waters.
“People are coming for Traditional rituals (Mashayi) in the dam. Recently a group led by a prophetess came and while she was performing rituals on a young boy. The prophetess and two other boys were drowning and two the now deceased brothers came to their aid but they drowned instead.
”It’s still not clear what form of ritual was the prophetess conducting on the boy but what is clear is that she was also about to drown but the two young men came and saved them.” Said Matsiya
Mhakwe Heritage Foundation Trust (MHFT) Director and traditionalist David Mutambirwa told TellZim News that water bodies were sacred places and proper ritual processes should take place to appease the spirits.
“Water bodies are sacred places and are habitat of spiritual powers. They should be respected and rituals should are performed to appease the spirits. Any form of abomination can anger the spirits and that could lead to harm or loss of life. We argue our people to respect our sacred places to minimize chances of angering the spirits.” Said Mutambirwa
He went on to say people were is not recognizing and respecting sacred places which he said were many in Mutare and Manicaland as a whole.
“We are not observing the sacred places due to other influences for example Christianity, ignorance among other omissions. We have departed from our cultural norms and values,” said Mutambirwa
In 2022 a young boy from Dangamvura drowned while swimming in Fern Valley dam and another student who had just joined Manicaland State University (MSU) drowned in the same dam while swimming.
Fern Valley dam was constructed for recreational purposes before independence, however, cases of people drowning under mysterious circumstances are common.
