Village head, 90, hangs self with a wire

A 90-YEAR-OLD village head from Bulilima District reportedly hanged himself with a wire at his homestead after a long illness, police confirmed.

Mporo Sibanda, a village head for Makumbi area under Chief Masendu, was found hanging in his bedroom hut on Tuesday morning.

Police officer commanding Bulilima-Mangwe district, Chief Superintendent Macdonald Samuriwo, said the matter was being treated as suicide but said investigations were still on.

However, a close family member said they suspected that Sibanda had given up on his life as a result of the illness.

"He kept telling his family that he had suffered for long and wanted the pain he was going through to end. He always complained of body pains and it appeared this was linked to old age," said the relative who requested anonymity.

A local, Smart Tshuma, expressed shock over Sibanda's death.

"I was notified by his son that the old man had committed suicide. It appears he woke up in the morning as usual but his family did not suspect anything," said Tshuma.

"He left his wife in the kitchen hut preparing some food and went into their bedroom. When his wife later went to check on him she found him hanging from the roof."

He said the community was shocked by the incident as they never expected Sibanda to end his life in such a manner.

Chief Masendu's secretary, Freeman Dube said Sibanda's death was a huge blow to the area as he was a vibrant and wise leader.

He said the late village head initiated a number of development projects in his territory.

Bulilima district administrator Ethel Moyo also said she was dismayed by the manner in which Sibanda ended his life.

"He usually sent his son to collect his pay from our office as he was so old and struggled to move around. I wonder where he got the strength to prepare a wire to hang himself," she said.