CASES of unsuspecting people, who are losing valuables to self-styled prophets and sangomas, continue and this is very sad.
The latest case involves Malawian sangoma, Julius Bwanali, who cashed in on Mabvuku residents on Sunday.
The 22-year-old claims he is capable of transforming stolen cellphones into snakes.
He also claimed he has a ‘spiritual plane’ which can take his believers around the world.
It’s the same ‘spiritual plane’ which he claims he has been using to travel around the region.
As strange as it may sound, he managed to win the hearts of scores of Mabuku residents with many turning to him to resolve some of their challenges on Sunday.
The huge number of people who turned up for his show, sends a clear message that he has a sizable number of people who really believe in him.
Several victims of theft and armed robberies turned out in their numbers seeking his services.
He charged, at least, a dollar for most of his services.
While a dollar might not appear a fortune in the eyes of many, the Malawian sangoma is likely to have made hundreds of dollars given the popularity of his show.
He didn’t force people to pay him but they volunteered to do so.
Out of desperation, the residents paid him some money in an attempt to recover stolen valuables.
The sad reality is that we still have people who can easily be hoodwinked by fortune hunters.
As the media, we have been warning people against such fortune hunters.
However, it appears that we still have some people who don’t want to take our warning seriously.
It’s really sad to think that we still have some people who can easily get swayed by sangomas and self-styled prophets.
For the sake of the residents, we urge the police to probe the Malawian sangoma and effect an arrest.
One way to start this probe would be to try and establish if he has a work permit to conduct his services in this country?
At 22, he looks relatively young and this isn’t the kind of age group usually associated with sangomas.
In recent weeks, we have had cases of sangomas who have been milking residents.
Some have committed serious crimes as they perform their so-called ‘miracles.’
We should always guard against such people who are causing untold suffering to residents.
On the other hand, residents should also be wary of such crooks.
We should not continue to talk about the same thing over and over again.
Those who are desperate for help should consult registered sangomas.
We should not trust fake sangomas without a traceable history as they are making a killing by duping unsuspecting people.
If the Malawian sangoma is not registered, he should face the music.
We urge people to always be careful and why they should not invest in such self-styled prophets and sangomas whose only mission is to dupe people.