Oketch Kendo
Absurd does not describe president Robert Mugabe’s initial flight of fantasy and court fight with a witchdoctor over rocks emitting purified diesel.
The southern African country was in 2007 so energy-hungry a witchdoctor had to be consulted and paid two head of cattle, three bull buffaloes and Z$5 billion to expose national gullibility.
The crisis was so huge, consumers, including the President and the Cabinet, believed a solution to the fuel crisis could come from anywhere, including from a sangoma (traditional seer).
After 20 years as president, Mugabe has run out of solutions to one of the crises engendered by his leadership. Instead of consulting mineralogists or geologists, he opted for a n’anga – a witchdoctor from his tribe, the Shona.
Mugabe’s tiff with a witchdoctor seems to be the lowest a regime could ever get in trying to find practical solutions to challenges of running a struggling country.
Last week the Mugabe regime jailed a witchdoctor for 27 months for misleading the nation in an incident that shows the president’s ‘senility’ has infected the Cabinet and Judiciary.
The witchdoctor, Rotina Mavhunga, was jailed for misleading Mugabe to believe the solution to the fuel crisis lay in juju (magic). She told them diesel was guzzling from a rock in a scale large enough to satisfy national demand.
Having convinced himself into believing the diesel n’anga’s fantasy, Mugabe set up a Cabinet sub-committee to interrogate how Zimbabwe could benefit from the oil find. Mavhunga hosted several delegations of ministers at a shrine where she told them of rock oozing purified diesel in a mountainous village.
Apart from heads of cattle, buffaloes, and Zim dollars the witchdoctor was also given land for her exemplary service to the nation at a time of great need.
A magistrate held that the witchdoctor deserved a custodial sentence because the Government had channeled a lot of money to her "fake oil project".
"The accused lied to the nation for self-actualisation and personal benefit. Your trickery brought despondency in the nation during a dry period," the magistrate said while passing the 27-month jail sentence, last week.
In mitigation, the n’anga blames the fraud on spirit possession, saying she did not know whether the diesel existed.
New Zimbabwe reported the sangoma’s lie sucked in ministers and the discovery discussed in Cabinet meetings Mugabe chaired. One night in 2007, Mavhunga, 39, ordered three ministers to mobilise a 50-vehicle convoy, which drove for 230km as part of her elaborate con.
Helicopters were deployed together with other "immense state resources" after Mavhunga — who dropped out of school in Grade 3 — convinced enough people in Government she could charm diesel out of rocks.
Hidden accomplice
New Zimbabwe reported that the Registrar General was part of the con.
The registrar reportedly supplied Mavhunga with 125 litres of diesel, which she stored away in an old fuel tank hidden at the top of a hill. A pipe was then connected to the tank leading to the foot of the hill.
At Mavhunga’s signal, a hidden accomplice opened the tap on the pipe from the top of the mount and ministers invited to witness the ‘discovery’ gasped, as refined diesel gushed out of rocks.
"From the evidence of Rotina Mavhunga, it is abundantly clear the registrar had an interest in the matter, whether it was for the benefit of the nation or for himself, is unknown to this court," New Zimbabwe quoted the magistrate.
There is nothing inherently fraudulent about witch doctors. They are actually children of their worlds and come in many forms and shades, depending on their social dynamics. But witch doctors would not have relevance if their clients did not have use for them.
By getting duped, Mugabe was a true Shona, caught in a time warp. Rather than find scientific solutions to the crisis of his leadership, he found it reasonable to look for answers among n’angas.
In Zimbabwe, n’angas are recognised and registered under the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association. They are believed to have religious powers to tell fortunes, heal, bless or even kill. Liberation war leaders like Mugabe and the late Joshua Nkomo are said to have consulted n’angas during the war for Independence.
Even today, n’angas are consulted for advice on issues of the moment, including finding solutions when the country runs out of gasoline. Mavhunga is in jail for cheating Mugabe.
But Mugabe and Cabinet should also be surcharged for falling prey to sangoma Mavhunga.
The writer is Managing Editor (Production & Quality at The Standard.
kendo@standardmedia.co.ke
