Former Education minister Aeneas Chigwedere’s son, Mangwiza, has now approached the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) seeking to compel his father and stepmother to undergo a cleansing ceremony to exorcise the whole clan against alleged witchcraft activities that have allegedly caused several deaths in the Wedza-based family.
In his application, Mangwiza cited Chigwedere, stepmother, Emilia Zharare, his aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters, as respondents and twenty-two others among them Rural Development, Promotion and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage minister Abednego Ncube, Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, National Council of Chiefs and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.
Mangwiza, in his founding affidavit, said,
These acts of cultural violations have greatly disadvantaged myself and thousands in the clan who have had to flee Wedza, but to no avail. The right to life has been violated and with the courts even being told on paper and viva voce that we are dying; we are being killed and maimed; we have more than 10 mentally-challenged; we are being exploited through culture. I have undergone more than 200 cultural procedures on myself personally, which I have now discovered were uncultural acts and the basis for our ill-health, pain, headaches, suffering, anomalies, having five brothers and sisters mentally-challenged, sisters, who fail to find fecundity to bear children, sisters who fail to marry.
The matter is yet to be set down for hearing.
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