THE Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association (Zinatha) says it has failed to establish the cause of the explosion that killed five people in Chitungwiza on Monday. FELUNA NLEYA/KUPAKWASHE MAKONYE STAFF REPORTERS
Zinatha said it now suspects a bomb could have caused the massive blast that left five people dead and destroyed several houses.
George Kandiero, the Zinatha spokesperson, yesterday said supernatural powers had been ruled out as the cause of the blast at a traditional healer’s house that also left several people injured.
“My line of thinking is that it could be a bomb because there is nothing yet linking it with supernatural powers,” he said. “We consulted spirits, but they did not pick up anything significant.
“We haven’t had time to really see to it because this whole week the police were doing their investigations.
“This issue has made a lot of news and it portrays a very bad image on traditional healers, this has brought a lot of disrepute into our sector because this blast involved a traditional healer.
“This has left people living in fear, so what needs to be done is to have a cleansing ceremony after the police are done with their investigations with the consent of the residents,” Kandiero added.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) said it would visit the scene tomorrow and assist the victims.
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“We will go there as ZCC to assist the victims of the explosion in Chitungwiza,” said Reverend Godfrey Gaga.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said investigations were still going on.
“The police are not yet through with the investigations. Thorough research is still being done on the matter and it is still going on at the moment,” she said.
Retired Brigadier Felix Muchemwa told the State media this week that the impact of the explosion and its effects as seen on the charred remains of the victims pointed to a bomb blast.
The blast claimed the life of traditional healer Speakemore Mandere, businessman Clever Kamudzeya, a seven-month-old baby and two other unidentified men.
Minetech, a private security company, yesterday dispelled rumours that Mandere used to work for them and was suspected to have been in possession of a landmine.
Minetech managing director Conrad Mpofu said they had no records showing that Mandere previously worked for them.
“We checked our records to determine if the deceased had any link to the company in terms of working for it after we heard the rumours that he was a former employee,” he said.
“We failed to identify him in the company’s records.
“If the other two unknown men had been identified, then we might have been able to trace if they had any links to the company.”
