Who from the chosen shall I pick? The words sound like lyrics from a 90s rap song but they ring in the heads of members of a family head and her crew of witches sacrifice their own. Happenings at Mchemo village in Gampakalale area, Sikobokobo under Chief Sikobokobo’s jurisdiction are hard to believe. But with a confession from Josphne Mpofu, there is no reason not to believe she is behind the death of 13 of her family members.
“I didn’t kill them alone. We are a group of four and it was my turn to kill my children. I had no choice because failure to do so I was going to be killed,”Josphine told B-Metro at the same time declaring that she wanted to leave the secret society. Mpofu opened up when her eldest son Genius Mpofu, troubled by family happenings, sought a with-hunter to solve the mystery. She explained how they kill their people.
“We mix soil from a grave with water then spray it on our prey in their sleep,” she said. The targeted person will feel dizzy and then die a few days later. In some cases, Josphine said they would give them food laced with crocodile bile. However, a professor in pharmacology, Norman Nyazema last year while addressing a Health Journalists’ Association of Zimbabwe (HeJAZ) workshop in Harare dismissed as a myth the widespread belief that crocodile bile was one of the most lethal poisons which could kill with just a small dose. Whatever the case, Josphine recounted the number of deaths credited to her since joining the cult in 2002.
have killed eight children and five step-children almost every year up to now,” she said. She is left with 15 grandchildren and they are all in danger. “I have 15 grandchildren and I used to take turns to ride them in conducting the witchcraft practice,” she added. Last week one of her children, Smally Mpofu, died in a mysterious way. The main suspect was Luck Mpofu, his wife. But the latest developments exonerate her.
‘”He died last week after complaining of a stomach ache. His relatives accused me of having a hand in it, but I thank the prophet and the spiritual haeler for exonerating me” said Luck.
Genius Mpofu hopes that his mother’s killing spree would come to an end with the help of the prophets. “I hope the prophet would cleanse this homestead and cast away bad spirit of death,” he said, adding that he had paid six cows and he was reportedly next in line. Prophet Phumulani Msipa said he killed three weird things.
“I killed three strange cats. At first she begged me not to kill them but her children said I should kill them. I also burnt her fly- whisk (itshoba), a stick and her muthi,” he said. The village Head, Nkosana confirmed the incident. “She admitted to killing her children and apologized for her actions as she said she feared that if this continued she would wipe off the whole family,” he said.