The Sunday Mail
Thieves are society’s worst enemies. People become thieves at different ages and for different reasons. There are leading factors.
In some cases some people inherit the stealing habits from their elders. In African religion there are people who are possessed by the spirits of stealing.
There are also people who become thieves because of poverty. This type of thief will make well-thought-out plans before stealing. Sometimes they can even use medicines to know where to strike.
In this case, this poverty-stricken person envies a flashy life but cannot afford it, therefore they steal.
Traditional Medical Practitioners have always been the police for the African people. They are doing wonders by catching thieves using traditional medicine and spiritual powers.
There are still some areas where people do not believe in reporting to the police, instead they use traditional medicine and spiritual powers to catch thieves, even in urban areas.
Traditional medicine is used to protect fields, properties and live stock from thieves.
In fields, the medicine is planted together with seeds or placed anywhere hidden. When a thief attempts to steal, he is attached to that position until the owner arrives.
In other cases, the thief will carry their load of the stolen produce and fail to put it down until he or she is seen by the owner of the field.
However, not all traditional medicine has immediate results. There are types with long-term results.
There is lot of evidence that there are people who have recovered their livestock by using medicine from traditional medical practitioners.
Some of the thieves grow horns on their head, similar to those of the animal they would have stolen. Sometimes the thief can feel something crawling in their stomach endlessly.
In other cases the thief can begin to make sounds of the animal. When one is bleating like a goat it is clear evidence that the individual is a livestock thief. There are lots of records of mysterious evidence of a chain of thieves who are caught by traditional medicine.
And some will come to the owners of the items for confession after being punished by traditional medicine and spiritual powers.
Traditional medicine is also used to identify cheaters in marriages and to prove where there are suspicions of such behaviour.
Cheaters in marriages will, for instance, have their private parts stuck together during a sexual act.
Cheating partners can also become very sick until they confess. These types of medicines are made out of animal parts and natural vegetation.
There are procedures used to relieve the caught person. They will then be handed over to the chief or to the police for further prosecution.
Traditional medical practitioners and their products always bring protection to both the people and their wealth.
Traditional medicine is outside scientific verification.
Probably that is why it is more comprehensive than modern medicines.
◆ Sekuru Friday Chisanyu is the founding president of Zimbabwe National Practitioners Association.
