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Councillor raps villagers who preyed on accident victims

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A HURUNGWE councillor, Jealousy Matesanwa, has rapped local villagers who preyed on accident victims along the Harare-Chirundu Road and robbed them of their belongings.

A HURUNGWE councillor, Jealousy Matesanwa, has rapped local villagers who preyed on accident victims along the Harare-Chirundu Road and robbed them of their belongings.

By Nhau Mangirazi

Speaking at a cleansing ceremony held at the accident site where a King Lion bus crashed, killing 43 people on the spot in Nyamakate early last month, Matesanwa said the practice of stealing from accident victims was inhuman.

The ceremony was held at the accident site on Friday.

“It is merciless and inhuman for whoever did that to ransack through corpses in search of valuables,” he said, urging villagers to hand over the stolen goods and cash to police to avoid being haunted by the deceased’s avenging spirits.

He claimed that when they arrived at the scene for the cleansing ceremony, they recovered a plastic bag containing cash believed to have been returned by a haunted villager. Matesanwa said the money was handed over to police in Makuti.

“Someone threw a plastic bag of bond coins and it means he or she is trying to replace what he had stolen. This is an indication that some accident victims are not easy prey at all. Suspects are being haunted and may have sleepless nights over what they did,” he added.

Karoi-based Catholic priest, Father Johannes Nguluwe, who led the cleansing ceremony mass said it was imperative for the church to pray at the accident scene to cast away any bad omens associated with the area.

“We believe that God has plans for everything and the accident was hurtful for those who lost beloved relatives. We must take comfort that God planned for their better destiny. We must therefore wish such accidents may not happen again,” he said.

Chief Abel Mbasera Chundu later unveiled a monument at the crash site in remembrance of the accident victims.

“We will have all the names written here so that we pay respect to those who perished here. As traditional leaders we are humbled that the church has led us in such a touching experience and we wish it is done regularly to cast away bad spirits as this may be a dark spot in future if not cleansed,” he said.