Juju court case takes a new twist

THE shocking case of a Bulawayo businessman who sued his ex-lover demanding over $5 000 as compensation for the pain and suffering he endured as a result of the spells and love potions which he claimed the latter allegedly used on him has taken a new twist.

The case which was dismissed in the civil court due to "lack" of evidence is now before the criminal court where the businessman, Marshall Joseph Stuart, is accusing his ex-girlfriend, Pia Tanja Woolf and prophet Chatadzwa Matsaure of "bewitching" him.

The two are now being charged with the offence of engaging in practices commonly associated with witchcraft.

However, on Wednesday the case again drew stunned reactions from the criminal court where Bulawayo magistrate Evelyne Mashavakure requested members of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Association (Zinatha) to give evidence on how love potions work.

The court later summoned two traditional healers, Zinatha provincial chairperson Abson Moyo and his vice- chairperson Gibson Moyana to help the law run its course.

However, in what seems like a twist to the case, the two traditional healers said their hands were tied to testify against Matsaure after he indicated to them that he used body lotion and water on Stuart instead of herbs recommended by their association.

Ironically, Matsaure is a holder of a Zinatha certificate, which prohibits the use of water and other related anointments in their practice.

Moyo and Moyana claimed that the best people to testify were from the Faith Healers' Association of Zimbabwe.

"We find the case tricky as we discovered that Matsaure used lotion and water when he assisted his client which goes against our practices which call for the use of herbs only. It is now in the best interest of the court to find someone from the Faith Healers' Association of Zimbabwe to help the law run its course as they are the ones who use water when conducting healing services," said Moyana.

Meanwhile, Stuart claimed that he started hallucinating and acted in a strange way after his girlfriend, Pia allegedly gave him a meal she had prepared together with a love potion she got from Prophet Matsaure.

Pia reportedly prepared the recipe after consulting Matsaure, who allegedly cast a spell on her lover before giving her the said love potion so that she controls him.

In his testimony, prophet Matsaure admitted that Pia came to his place of residence to get assistance. He said he gave her a paper which he instructed her to write her name, boyfriend's name adding that he prayed for those things before advising Pia to burn the paper with their names and take the ash and put it in the lotion.

"I instructed her to regularly apply the lotion on her body. The water was to be used in cooking and bathing. I also instructed her to return after three days. When she came back she said the charms had worked very well on her boyfriend and that was the last time I saw her," he testified.

During his healing expeditions, Stuart claimed that he was forced to strip naked and jump over a fire.

He was finally healed after he visited Matsaure who had administered the spell. He was given a mixture of an egg, milk and cooking oil which he drank before vomiting a tissue like charm which the prophet took and burnt.

The matter was further postponed to allow the court to summon members from the Faith Healers' Association of Zimbabwe.

Pia is denying the charges and in her defence, she applied for a dismissal of the case claiming lack of evidence.