War vet who died in 1978 demands a decent burial

A LIBERATION war fighter who died at the battlefront in 1978 has demanded a decent burial together with his colleagues after his spirit recently manifested in a Chikanga woman, saying if the process is delayed deadly floods will hit the Zimta Park area again.

Some 37 years down the line, the ex-combatant revealed his name as Shepherd Nemanwe from Chivi in Masvingo saying his remains and those of other fallen heroes were at Bhuru Farm area near Chikanga.

The woman, Neria Nyamiti from Katerere village in Nyanga, through whom the spirit spoke, had a human bone, which the spirit claimed to be one of his other bones which are scattered in the area.

In a fit of anger, the spirit claimed to be behind the floods which recently washed away a child in Zimta Park and threatened to unleash more venom if the Government does not act soon about his remains and those of other comrades.

"Tiri kutoda chikopokopo chiuye chitiendese kuHeroes Acre. Mukanonoka tinounza futi mvura asi mukakasika tinoivhara (We want a helicopter to come and collect our remains for burial at the Heroes' Acre. If the authorities slacken, we will cause more floods but if you hasten the process, we will stop them)," said the spirit.

The spirit complained that the allocation of residential stands in the area was disturbing their peace.

Said the spirit: "Makaudza ani kuti mava kuda kuisa vanhu munzvimbo yedu yatinogara? Manyanya kurima mugomo kani. Ikozvino kana tsuro zvayo unoiona imomu? Ko kurwa kwese kwatakaita. Izvozvi tava kungotsva nezuva, tafumuka"?. tiendesei kuheroes' acre tinozorora. (Whom did you summon about the residential stands you allocated in this area? There is too much destruction of the environment such that one cannot even come across a hare in this area. Why then did we go to war? Take us to the heroes' acre and lay us to rest!"

Nyamiti is an affiliate of an unidentified apostolic sect led by one Madzibaba Gweru, who when the situation got out of hand, fled and left his church member alone, as was revealed by the spirit.

"Gweru wenyu anditiza pano, asi ndakahakirwa panzvimbo pake, panga pari pabase redu muhondo.
In a clear case of friction between Christianity and the African traditional religion, the Christians present tried to cast out the spirit by commanding fire on it, in the name of Prophet Magaya but it went on to ridicule them saying its case could only be handled the traditional way, not through Magaya.

One woman, only identified as mai Gamu, who shouted that the woman was fake mysteriously fell onto the "Shepherd's" bone, something which left the crowd dumbfounded.

Speaking to The Manica Post, one of the eye witnesses, James Chiuya, who claimed to be a spirit medium too, urged the people around to take the spirit seriously, adding that what it was saying was real and could lead to mishaps if ignored.

"What is happening here is very serious and people should respect what the spirit medium is saying. I strongly feel that traditional leaders of this place (Murahwa) and the City Council and the Government should give these people a decent burial so that there can be sanity in this area.

"The floods we recently experienced were absurd and this now explains the whole thing. Despite being largely Christian, we need to understand that traditions remain a reality and should be respected. Magaya cannot deal with this and succeed. The idea of people spending nights in the mountains praying or making fires on river banks should be stopped because traditionally, it disturbs the peace of the departed," said Chiuya.

As the drama was unfolding, Nyamiti's niece who had come from Chigodora burst into tears when she saw her aunt in such a pathetic state as the spirit was speaking through her.

"I cannot hold back my tears because my mother's sister has never experienced this before and it's my first time to see her like this. Some of our relatives are already on their way from Ruwangwe as we speak. I just hope that the situation is taken care of so that our family can go back to sanity.

When The Manica Post left, people were waiting for an army vehicle to carry the spirit medium away as the spirit would not ride in any other vehicle except one dispatched by the army.