By- A Nyanga man decommissioned a grinding mill that he bought in 2019 and dumped it in nearby bushes after spiritual healers told him that the machine was bringing misfortune to his family.

Phillip Mafemera of Mazarura Village in Nyanga was left homeless after his entire homestead was razed down by a mysterious fire that started in broad daylight.

Spiritual healers had warned him that the grinding mill he bought from a neighbour was causing mysterious occurrences at his home.

Mafemera lost his bedroom, granary and the structure which housed the grinding mill to the fire.

He said he dumped the grinding mill in the bush because the family that sold him the mill was refusing to take it back.

Mafemera was recently brought before acting Chief Saunyama’s court after Charles Chibvuri caught him performing rituals with maize-meal at his house.

The accused did not deny the allegations and said he was forced to perform the rituals after the Chibvuri family had refused to take back their grinding mill which he believes is cursed. Said Mafemera:

For two years, they have been refusing to take back their grinding mill even though it was causing mysterious things at my home. Every night, I would see the shadow of a man at the grinding mill.

We have endured the scary occurrences for a long time. The shadow acts as someone guarding the grinding mill. At times the shadow would chase us.

The grinding mill never worked ever since I bought it. Mechanics would tell me that it was in perfect working condition, but it still did not work.

That is when I consulted spiritual healers who told me that there was a need for spiritual cleansing as the grinding mill was cursed.

They are the ones who told me that there was a shadow watching me ever since I bought the grinding mill.

Mafemera said Madzibaba Anthony Chirangeni instructed him to take grounded maize-meal to Chibvuri’s home and perform some rituals.

He said the spiritual healer warned him that if he did not return the grinding mill to its owner, someone would die in his family.

The traditional court ordered the Chibvuri family to restitute the three cattle used by Mafemera to buy the grinding mill.

On his part, Mafemera was fined six beasts for performing rituals at a neighbour’s homestead without their consent.

In an interview with The Manica Post, Chibvuri denied the allegations that his family sold Mafemera a cursed grinding mill.

He said when the grinding mill was sold to Mafemera, it was in good working condition and the issue was that he was no longer able to maintain it.

Chibvuri criticised the judgement as unfair, saying he should have been made to reimburse Mafemera part of the payment that he made because he used the grinding mill for two years.