The Gokwe murder and subsequent quarrels, bizarre mourtuary happenings, alleged mysterious psychiatric cases, eventual trial, conviction and sentence, the heavy penalty to appease avenging spirits must all have sent a chilling message to would-be perpetrators of political violence.
The case in point is that, like many have warned before, including Vice-President Joice Mujuru who spoke about party zealots standing alone and paying the ultimate price for their actions, chickens may have come to roost.
Perpetrators of the ghastly June 2008 violence have begun to reap the fruits of their actions. Many are in panic mode and are running like headless chickens, going to the Njelele Shrine in vain attempts to cleanse their bloodied hands and to find peace with the dead and the maimed – victims of their “valiant” deeds.
Stories of war vet “pilgrims” trekking to the sacred Njelele Shrine in recent past months made interesting, albeit funny, reading. Busloads of frightened one-time “heroes” descended on Njelele — all 700-plus of them – and slaughtered a beast in a bid to get national ancestors to wash blood off their hands and cleanse their cursed spirits.
Like what happened to deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi yesterday, the bad things that men do always come after them.
There is little doubt there are hundreds of people around the country who took part in the 2008 madness that saw many innocent people displaced, scarred, maimed or killed who are now frightfully desperate for some kind of cleansing for their evil deeds.
They are being punished in one way or the other for their sins. The people they murdered or whose souls they tormented are out for revenge.
Mashonaland Central governor Martin Dinha recently warned villagers around Nzvimbo Growth Point in Chiweshe against witchcraft after several incidents of mysterious deaths and bizarre ailments beset those believed to have been involved in the 2008 bloodshed.
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In our Zimbabwean culture, and even in the Bible, man was given power over all the creatures on earth, but no man was given power over another man.
The problem with instigating political violence is that the spiritual consequences of avenging spirits (ngozi) do not go to the one who sends people to murder others, but to the person who does the actual killing.
Even if one kills an innocent soul and is sentenced before the formal court of law, according to our traditional culture, appeasement has to be done. If that is not done, the effects will haunt you, your family and generations to come up to a stage the perpetrator settles the compensation.
Member of Parliament for Buhera West Eric Matinenga told people at a memorial service of a victim of political violence in his constituency that the problem with political murders of innocent people is that the politicians who sent their thugs to commit these crime do not give them a ngozi payment on top of the material and monetary rewards that they give their goons.
In our culture, we believe it is unavoidable to suffer the consequences of killing innocent blood, but no matter how gruesome examples are shown everywhere, come election time, more people are killed in cold blood.
Vice-President Mujuru made it clear the party would never be part of the consequencies that are visited upon murderers by avenging spirits of their victims. “You will be on your own.”
