Sex worker's ngozi surfaces 50 years later

A Nyanga family is living in fear of a vengeful spirit that claims to be a sex worker who was murdered 50 years ago by the family's patriarch.

The spirit, which speaks through various possessed family members of the Muusha family, says it will not rest until it is appeased.

The spirit identifies itself as Elizabeth Ncube, a sex worker from Chiredzi, who was working in Bulawayo before being murdered by Moses Muusha over a payment dispute.

The matter appeared before Acting Chief Saunyama's court recently.

During the court session, Moses Muusha who had for months been insisting that he has nothing to do with the avenging spirit that is haunting his family shocked the gallery when he confessed.

The man also revealed that after killing Ncube in 1968, he was convicted by the courts and served his time in prison.

"I was a young man and did not know what I was doing back then. We were both drunk and the sex worker had denied me her services after she had collected her payment. I hit her once and she fell to her death," he said.

However, the man claimed that he doubted the spirit's genuineness and accused his first wife of conniving with her children to stage-manage the possessions.

"I strongly feel that someone from my family unearthed my dirty past and exposed it. They connived and started stage-managing spiritual possessions so that they milk me of my wealth.

"If it is indeed Elizabeth's avenging spirit, then it should also possess my second wife's daughters and granddaughters and not just those from my first wife. I think my first wife is working in cahoots with her daughters and grandchildren to dupe me," said the polygamist who is no longer in good books with his first wife.

At least five of the Muusha granddaughters have stopped attending school due to the manifestations as they become violent each time they are possessed.

When the spirit manifests on any of the girls, they start banging their heads on the ground, thereby endangering their lives.

As a result, the orphaned girls who are in the custody of their grandmother are always bound by chains so that they do not injure themselves during their daily manifestations.

Upon orders from Acting Chief Saunyama, the family consulted traditional healers and all claimed that it was Ncube's spirit that needs appeasement.

It seems to be double trouble for the family as they also claim to be haunted by another vengeful spirit which is also seeking justice and appeasement.

The spirit of Josphat Mukunje is manifesting on three minor girls from the same family, while alleging that the girls' grandfather, Moses Muusha, murdered Mukunje in Chipinge two decades ago.

Muusha's first wife, Tambudzai Muusha, said both spirits are demanding compensation.

"At first it was just Mukunje's spirit manifesting on three of my granddaughters. My husband denied any knowledge of the avenging spirit. He distanced himself from Mukunje's death .

"The chief asked us to consult traditional healers. When we did that, Ncube's spirit started manifesting on two more of my granddaughters. I never knew that my husband had killed a woman in Bulawayo and is an ex-convict.

"I was so devastated and shocked and for him to insist that this is being stage-managed when our granddaughters had to drop out of school is saddening. Moses (Muusha) will not budge because it is not affecting him directly. He does not care about his grandchildren's welfare and future because he has several others," said the elderly woman.

Hailing from Chipinge, the Muusha family has stayed in Nyanga for decades after Moses migrated to the area in search of greener pastures.

However, Mukunje's avenging spirit alleges that Muusha relocated to Nyanga, fleeing from his sins in Chipinge.

When they appeared before the community court, Moses was adamant that his granddaughters are faking the manifestations. However, this did not go down well with the late Mukunje's spirit which manifested on one of his granddaughters and spoke in fluent Ndau.

"Do you want to dare me Moses? Appease my family or risk being wiped out as a family. There will be no trace of the Muusha family in Nyanga in a year if you continue denying killing me in Chipinge. I will keep working with Ncube whom you also killed and eventually, every Muusha family member will be ill or dead," said the spirit.

The matter was adjourned to a later date.