The Sunday Mail
Tendai Chara
Suddenly, all the 21 people who had imbibed the traditional brew at the Coffies’ in Zhombe began to vomit.
Vertigo and nausea overcame them, as the poison coursed through their systems, threatening to sap the life out of them.
Terrified relatives rushed them to a local clinic and then to Kwekwe Provincial Hospital as their conditions deteriorated.
Then came the heart-breaking news: five-year-old Elizabeth Ndlalambi – the youngest of the group – had died on admission.
Slowly, pensively, the remaining victims digested the news in horror, mindful that they, too, could soon reach their darkest hour.
But they lived.
A week after their near-death experience, the 20 survivors and their fellow villagers are still battling to get their heads around the motive behind the apparent poisoning. The mystery deepens as investigators are yet to pick up any suspects. What is more, two similar incidents have occurred before in the same village.
Ambuya Tiyiwe Coffie, who prepared the maheu, is equally puzzled.
“I have been preparing this drink for 20 years now and nothing of the sort had ever happened. I know some people suspect I might have deliberately poisoned myself, my husband and neighbours,” said the 67-year-old.
“But why would I do that? God and God alone knows the person who is behind all this.”
On November 9, 2015 the community around Ndlalambi Village organised a development meeting.
Given the searing heat in those parts, a refreshing traditional brew was in order. So, part of the group headed to Sekuru and Ambuya Coffie’s home after the meeting.
It was not long afterwards that all those who had downed Ambuya Coffie’s brew began experiencing sharp abdominal pain.
Word soon spread that these villagers had drunk from a “poisoned chalice”.
Mr Maxwell Ndlalambi, Elizabeth’s father, said: “Of all the people, why my daughter alone? I am now afraid of even drinking water as someone out there might be waiting to wipe out my family.”
Mr Ndlalambi said in 2014, one Keyson lost his life after drinking maheu supposedly laced with poison, while another child died after eating at a wedding.
Many villagers, he said, believe these deaths and the latest incident are related, and did not eat at Elizabeth’s funeral, fearing another attack.
“I also suspect the same; that a syndicate is responsible for this. In 2013, more than 20 people who were harvesting maize got sick after drinking maheu. These two cases are clearly related,” said Mr Ndlalambi.
Midlands provincial police spokesperson Inspector Joel Goko said investigations were in progress to determine the source and type of poison.
Could there be a serial killer in Zhombe? That is the question villagers and investigators are racking their brains over.
