African traditional religion

Traditional healers fight for recognition

November 5, 2013
Traditional healers have called for society to embrace their profession, saying their mission was to free the nation from various ailments. Traditional healers have since time immemorial been the source of indigenous medicine. However, the advent of conventional methods of treatment coupled with the rise in Christianity has resulted in ...

Prophet denies links with ‘witches’

October 9, 2013
A faith healer accused of hiring two women who claimed to be “witches” after being found naked outside his Harare house has denied any links with the single mothers after they alleged he hired them as part of a publicity stunt. Alfred Mupfumbati, 30, better known as Madzibaba Mateo in ...

False prophets and traditional healers perpetuating child rapes

September 30, 2013
Human and child rights groups have blamed false prophets and traditional healers for perpetuating religious beliefs and myths resulting in increased child rapes. More than 1 600 children were reported raped in the first half of the year countrywide with relatives being singled out as main culprits, police said last ...

Budiriro ‘witches’:Prophet charged

September 26, 2013
The “prophet” at whose house the two suspected witches were found naked before being arrested two weeks ago, has been charged with “engaging in a practice associated with witchcraft”, a charge similar to that the two women are facing. Alfred Mupfumbati (30) appeared before Mbare provincial magistrate Reuben Mukavi on ...

Latest on Budiriro ‘witches’:Prophet appears in court, women ululate over ruling

September 24, 2013
The infamous Budiriro prophet, who grabbed headlines when he claimed that two naked women who were found at his house were witches, has appeared in court. Prophet Alfred Mupfambati is facing the same charge with the two women, who claimed that their names are Maria Moyo and Chipo Chakaja – ...

Budiriro witch crash-landing ‘a hoax’

September 23, 2013
Two women paraded in court as suspected witches after being found dressed only in skin-tights outside a house in Harare’s Budiriro suburb may have been willing participants in an elaborate hoax, it has emerged. Relatives of the duo – who were found with a live owl and an assortment of ...

‘Witches’ seek out Makandiwa, Angel

September 16, 2013
Two women charged under witchcraft laws after being found dressed only in skin tights outside a house in Budiriro last week have denied they are witches in their first interview from prison. Chipo Chakaja, 26, and her aunt Maria Moyo, 35, begged a newspaper to facilitate a meeting with the ...

Patient dies in botched Sangoma exorcism ritual

September 14, 2013
A traditional healer from Beitbridge has been arrested on allegations of causing the death of a woman he claimed was possessed with demons in a botched exorcism ritual. Police in Matabeleland South confirmed Cephas Ncube,50, had been arrested and would be charged with murder over the death of Tsebi Nyathi,30, ...

Harare prophet’s goblin says no to sex

July 9, 2013
A Harare man stunned the court when he revealed that his wife – a self styled prophet – denied him conjugal rights over the past four months because her newly-acquired goblins would not permit her. Fungisai Nyamayaro, who admitted she was a prophet, was seeking a protection order at the ...

People turn to traditional medicine

June 10, 2013
At least half of Zimbabwe’s population are failing to access health services due to poverty ending up turning to traditional healers as the last line of defence against the most contagious and debilitating diseases that plague their lives. According to the Poverty Income Consumption and Expenditure Survey that was launched ...