FROM time immemorial, some people who are related have strained their relationships because of accusing each other of practising witchcraft.
Some families have been known to have accused their very close relatives, especially the elderly ones, of being witches who caused illnesses and deaths of some of their younger relatives while some children have beaten, maimed and killed their own biological parents whom they accused of being witches.
However, in recent times, witchcraft has not only been blamed on elderly people, but even young men and women who have been accused of using charms to advance their businesses and influence their supervisors in their places of work so that they could be promoted and given higher positions.
A few days ago, I was at a bar in Chifubu Township having a good time with some friends.
Next to a table where we were seated were three men who appeared to have taken one too many as they were talking on top of their voices.
I heard one of the men laugh his head off and say it was true that his brother-in-law was a witch and he had to leave his home when he heard him reprimand his wife (his sister) for having not told the family members who were staying with them not to use the toilet before him (his brother-in-law) used it for bathing.
“Ulya mulamu ni ndoshi. Alikalipila sana ba sister elyo ambwene ndefuma mutoileti ati pantu camoneke ukuti taebele abantu abo baleikala nabo ukuti tabafwile ukubomfya toilet nga talasambilamo (That brother-in-law of mine is a witch. He bitterly reprimanded my sister when he saw me leaving the toilet accusing her that it appeared she did not tell the people they were staying with that they were not supposed to use the toilet before he used it for bathing),” the man said.
Another said, “Teti cibefyo naiwe mune. Mulamu obe mwaice sana teti acite ifyabuloshi ifyo ulelanda (It cannot be like that my friend.
Your brother-in-law is very young. He can’t perform witchcraft as you are saying).”
I saw the other man, probably in his 20s, shaking his head.
This was strange and as an eavesdropper, I was eager to hear more.
But since I found the men already in the discussion, I thought I had missed something.
Then, the man who had spoken first went on to say his brother-in-law was a witch who was using charms which made his bosses promote him.
“He uses witchcraft and charms to win the hearts of his bosses so that they can promote him. Hasn’t it crossed your mind that he does not deserve the position he has at his place of work and the kind of house he has been given in Kansenshi? He is a witch,” the man said.
He then started explaining what was happening at his sister’s and brother-in-law’s house in Kansenshi.
According to the man, he had been staying with his sister and brother-in-law for about a year and he used to get along very well with them that he (his brother-in-law) even secured him a job as a general worker at the company where he was working.
The man said he started suspecting his brother-in-law of being a witch because of the strange behaviour he noticed in him each time they were having lunch or supper together.
He said when they were eating nshima, his brother-in-law would stop eating when the portion was halfway finished.
“Elyo futi nga mulelya nabo, balemoneka abafulwa. Ngamulelya ubwali elyo bwafika pakati ninshi bena kuleka pantu tabalefwaya ukusuna ukoumbi asunine (And if you were eating with him, he looked angry. If you are eating nshima and you are halfway, he would stop eating because he did not want to eat from where someone else had eaten),” said the man as another man agreed that the man was indeed behaving strangely.
The man who had been narrating the story explained how every time around 03:30 hours and 04:00 hours, he would hear footfalls of his brother in-law going to the toilet and when he entered the toilet, he heard him talking and chanting some time before he started bathing.
He said the day his brother-in-law was reprimanding his sister was the day he saw him coming from the toilet.
“It was around 03:00 hours when I went to the toilet which is in the same room with the bathroom. Besides the bathtub, I saw a bucket filled with water and there were some roots floating in it. I was leaving the toilet when I heard the footfalls of my brother-in-law and when I came out, I saw my brother-in-law coming,” the man said.
He said when his brother-in-law saw him coming out of the toilet, he appeared confused and he rushed back to his bedroom and shortly, he heard him shouting at his sister.
“Bushe tawabeba abantu abekala muno ukuti tabafwile ukuya mu toilet kumacha nganshilasambilamo? Nomba wamona brother obe efyo acita.
Aumona umuti nomba wafumuka (Haven’t you told the people who stay here that they are not supposed to go to the toilet at dawn before I bath?
Now see what your brother has done. He has seen the medicine and it is now neutralised),” the man said, claiming those were the words his brother-in-law told his sister.
He said his brother-in-law shouted at his sister for quite a long time and at around 07:00 hours, he left for work without bathing.
The man said after his brother-in-law left for work, his sister started blaming him that he had made a very big mistake by using the toilet before his brother-in-law used it and there would be no peace at home.
“But I told my sister that I did not make any mistake by using the toilet because I did not know anything as I was not told anything. In any case, why should people not use the toilet before her husband bathed? Is that not witchcraft?” I asked her.
He said a few days later when he went for work, he heard some people talking about his brother-in-law, that he had been demoted because he was found to be a witch.
He said there were many illnesses and strange happenings at the work place and family members were complaining to some relatives that he (his brother-in-law) was behind this and had he been an old man, they would already have taken action of beating or killing him.
“From that time he saw me leaving the toilet, my brother-in-law has hated me and he has stopped talking to me and I have left his home before he kills me,” said the man as he got to his feet and walked to the counter.
Lord! What unusual things happen in this world! I thought.
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