Man's charms turn into spirits haunting his family

A 71-year-old man from Chironga Village under Chief Dotito in Karanda, Mt Darwin, claims he and his family are being tormented by mysterious spiritual forces after traditional charms he received years ago for farming and gambling allegedly turned into evil spirits.

The man, Mr. Kosamu Mazemba, said he visited a traditional healer in his area years ago seeking a charm to boost his cotton yields when the crop was highly profitable.

"I went to a traditional healer without my family's knowledge and asked for a charm to improve my cotton harvests. I was given a small root and instructed to bury it in the yard and in the middle of my field. From then on, I started harvesting between 15 and 20 bales of cotton, more than anyone else in the area," Mazemba recalled.

He said he also harvested up to 20 cartloads of maize during the same period, which made him believe in the power of the charm. The healer, however, gave him strict conditions - known as mhiko - not to take fire outside or light fires in the yard, rules he later forgot.

Around the same time, Mazemba said he also sought another charm from a different healer, this time to help him win in gambling games, known locally as njuga or makasa.

"The healer gave me another small root to tie around my right shoulder under my shirt when playing. It worked very well - I used to win a lot of money, sometimes up to US$60 in one night, which was a big amount back then, enough to buy more than ten cows," he said.

Mazemba explained that he was warned never to let women touch the gambling charm. But one day, he forgot it in his trousers, and his wives, unaware, washed the clothes - a mistake he believes caused the charms to lose their power and "mutate into evil spirits."

He said soon afterward, his once-prosperous farm began to fail, and he lost his luck in gambling. Worse still, he claims the charms transformed into spirits that began to sexually torment his daughters.

"The money I made from farming and gambling never helped me. The cows I have now are from my father's herd and what I bought through hard work. After the charms lost power, my fields stopped producing, and the gambling luck vanished. Later, I was told the charms had turned into spirits sleeping with my daughters," he said sorrowfully.

Mazemba said his daughters began having disturbing dreams of being intimate with him. One of them reportedly fell seriously ill and later died under mysterious circumstances linked to these spiritual attacks.

"One of my daughters would dream of me sleeping with her. She became very sick and wasted away. We later discovered the charms I had taken had turned into spirits that were tormenting my daughters," he said.

He said the situation affected his entire family, causing strained relationships and marital breakdowns among his daughters, as their husbands complained about the strange experiences.

After confessing to his family, Mazemba sold one of his cows to pay traditional experts to help cleanse the homestead.

"I ask for forgiveness from my wife, my daughters, and my relatives for the suffering I brought upon them. To other men, I say - do not go to traditional healers to seek charms for farming or gambling. You don't know what you're being given. Work hard for your money; don't look for shortcuts," he pleaded.

One of Mazemba's daughters confirmed her father's story, saying she fell sick after repeatedly dreaming of him.

"At first, he denied it, but later confessed and asked us for forgiveness. These spirits caused us great suffering - our relationships were falling apart as men ran away from us. But after my father sold his cow for cleansing ceremonies, things have started improving," she said.

The Mazemba family is now living temporarily at a relative's home in Mt Darwin as they continue receiving help from spiritual healers to end what they describe as a long and painful ordeal.