The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa and Nyasha Mapasa Weekender Correspondents
VILLAGERS in Chigodora under Chief Zimunya in Mutare have to escort their children to and from school daily following a series of ritual murders that have rocked their community in recent weeks.
In the latest gory incident, the body of a local man was recovered from a Vumba forest. The 42-year-old Christopher John Muponda had been missing for three days after he had left home for Mutare and never returned.
His body was found in an early state of decomposition. The corpse was found in the Vumba forest, at Makuti farm turn off, a long way from the Chigodora-Mutare road on Monday last week after he had gone missing on Saturday.
When The Weekender arrived at the Muponda homestead recently, the family was still in mourning since it was only a few days after burying their father.
In an interview with The Weekender, the late Muponda’s wife, Nancy Mandikonza said she had escorted her husband to the bus stop at midday on Saturday, 14, 2019 and that he had texted her an hour later telling her that he had boarded a lift to town.
“I could not escort him all the way to the bus stop because I also wanted to get back to my brick moulding job. At around 2:30pm, I received a text message from him saying that he had boarded a lift and was already on his way to Mutare.
“That was our last communication, I tried calling him later but it rang unanswered and he did not call back. It was until our brother-in-law called telling us that he had not arrived in Mutare that I started to worry.
“Our brother-in-law and some church members effected a search, and they failed to find him on Sunday. His phone kept ringing, and no one picked it. They only found him on Monday around 10am,” said Mandikonza.
She also said that she strongly suspected that her husband had boarded a lift that belonged to human slayers (mabhinya).
Mandikonza said the family was still waiting for the post mortem results though they had already buried Muponda in Honde Valley.
In an interview, Headman Mukwecheni’s wife said they were living in fear of attacks as it seemed as if the attackers drained blood from their victims.
She said when Muponda’s body was found, his bag had been placed under his head for comfort and all his belongings were still with him.
“The body was very dark and he had been bleeding from the nose because he had dry blood on his nose when the body was found.
“The body had turned really dark and we are now living in fear that these murderers are sucking blood from their victims since the other two bodies that were found during that same week, also had the same features of being darker than before and blood coming out of their noses,” said Mai Mukwecheni.
So grave is the situation that even students in high school have to be accompanied to and from school.
As would be expected, the older villagers also travel to the gardens and shops in groups, in fear of being ambushed.
She said a lady named Mai Two had been found dead the previous week in the surrounding area.
“We are living in fear and we are left with no option but to escort our school-going children to and from school daily.
“They are not safe; one might think that after killing Mai Two the attackers would have been arrested by now.
“As if that could not be enough, another man was found dead in the same area two days after Muponda’s body was recovered. The murderers are still roaming the village and sheltering in the bushes looking for new targets,” said Mbuya Mukwecheni.
She said since the murder of Mai Two, who was the first victim on the spat of murders, there had been more attacks on other villagers.
Meanwhile, Manicaland deputy police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Luxon Chananda confirmed that such cases were becoming rampant in the area and investigations were still in progress.
“This is not the first time we are hearing of such a case in Vumba. Our investigation team is working tirelessly to ensure that whoever is causing this is brought to book.
“We also urge residents in this area to be very cautious and avoid walking alone. Those with any information that may be helpful in the investigations should come forward and report to the nearest police station,” he said.
