•CHRISTOPHER Zulu popularly known as Seven Hours.

By CHUSA SICHONE –

HE is a common feature on Lusaka’s Central Business District (CBD) where he moves from one point to another, from morning to sunset with a suitcase strapped around his shoulder.
Spotting a Muslim cap that qualifies him as a healer, he holds a wad of cash in one hand and a root herb in the other waving while shouting ‘seven hours’ signifying its efficacy that it lasts for seven hours.
If he is not talking on his weighty mobile phone, then he is either attending to a client in-person or walking whilst calling upon would-be customers to buy the products in his suitcase.
His name is Christopher Zulu, popularly known as Seven Hours in the Lusaka CBD or Chazanga Township, where he resides, among other areas.
Mr Zulu is famous for selling assorted herbal medicines, which he carries in his suitcase and also administers to his clients at his home.
Among the herbal medicines are those meant for sexual enhancement, which earned him the Seven Hours nickname?
Other traditional drugs are for genital enlargement and vaginal tightening.
Mr Zulu claims the Seven Hours aphrodisiac enables a man to have continuous hours during intercourse, which he refers to as a ‘tournament’ getting the metaphor from a sports tournament.
However, Mr Zulu clarified in an interview that Seven Hours is an advertising strategy as his sex boosters do not really cause someone to engage in a ‘tournament’ lasting seven hours but they merely improve sexual performance.
“I have different types of medicines.
The tournament medicine is powdered and it can be used with Maheu, black tea or porridge.
The dosage is mixing one teaspoon of the medicine with Maheu, black tea or porridge then taking the mixture one hour before the tournament.
He said upon taking the medicine, the user will have what he called few ‘ breakdowns’-pausing after a sex act and boasted that there were so many men and women who seek his services to boost their husband’s libido.
He said similarly, men who want to enlarge their manhoods and women who want their vaginas to be tightened seek Mr Zulu’s help.
He claimed that some of his clients prefer buying in private because of shyness, while others buy while in the comfort of their motor vehicles with the last group visiting him at home.
Besides selling sex boosters, Mr Zulu also sells herbal medicines for babies and adults for ailments such coughs, stomach, leg problems, diabetes, high blood pressure among others.
Now aged 43, Mr Zulu was introduced to herbal medicine by his grandparents in a village in Katete District in Eastern Province when he was 15 years old and has been in the business since then.
Mr Zulu has been moving around Lusaka town selling his products since 1987 and has authorization from the Traditional Healers Practitioners Association of Zambia (THPAZ).
He described his products as genuine herbal medicine with no side effects since he obtains them from different trees his grandparents showed him in Chief Katumba’s chiefdom.
Mr Zulu said his herbal medicine should not be mistaken for witchcraft as he does not condone since he is a God-fearing and a devout Christian member at Bible Gospel Church in Africa (BIGOCA).
He said the business has enabled him build houses for rent and lives in one of them in Chazanga Township with his wife and five children.
When fixing an appointment for the interview, this author bumped into Mr Zulu buying ceiling boards for his house in one of the hardware shops on Cha Cha Cha Road on a Saturday.
Because of being in high demand as an aphrodisiac seller, Mr Zulu did not show up for the interview and only appeared four days later.
The interview was from time-to-time interrupted by phone calls that Mr Zulu claimed were from his numerous clients.
When business is at its peak, Mr Zulu claims he makes between K1,500 and K2,000 in a day from his sales; he raises between K1,000 and K800 in a day.
He said he stocks enough herbal medicines at home such that when they finish, he goes back home to refill.
Mr Zulu has never been to school before while his wife dropped out in Grade Two and thus does not want his children to end up like their parents.
Mr Zulu prefers that his children concentrate on school rather than take up their father’s mantle.
So far, of the five, two children are in school.
The remaining three are still young.
For many Lusaka residents, the cries of seven hours is a familiar one, not to talk of a man carrying a suitcase full of aphrodisiacs.