Baboons sent to collect debt

A NYANGA man is terrified that his wife who is six months pregnant might suffer a miscarriage amid reports that baboons are visiting them demanding the money he owes a local traditional healer.

Mr Innocent Ndaruza (29) claims that Sekuru Chihwa “helped’”his wife to conceive.

Besides the baboon visits, Mr Ndaruza claims that while sleeping, he and his wife hear voices singing outside, while the voices also shout that he needs to pay what he owes Sekuru Chihwa.

When they go outside to investigate, they see no one, although the voices continue making the demands.

Mr Ndaruza said for years, his wife struggled to conceive until they sought the services of Sekuru Chihwa. Soon after that, his wife conceived. “My father has two sons and we both do not have children. I ended up marrying a second wife, thinking that my first wife could not conceive. She went through so many miscarriages.

“When I decided to consult Sekuru Chihwa, my brother refused to do so citing his religious beliefs.

“Sekuru Chihwa told me that the person who was causing our problems would fall ill when my wife conceived. This came to pass as my father fell ill as soon as my wife became pregnant; he is still bedridden as we speak. “Sekuru Chihwa charged me US$150 for his services. I was supposed to pay it over two months. However, I failed to do so because I lost my job a month after consulting Sekuru

Chihwa.

“Months later when I raised the money, I went back to Sekuru Chihwa and tried to reason with him to accept my payment, but he refused, arguing that the time that his ancestors had given me had lapsed,”said Mr Ndaruza.

“Sekuru Chihwa told me that I would have frequent baboon visits at my homestead. At times, one baboon comes but at times, it will be the whole troop.

“These unusual visitors sit in my yard and demand the money I owe Sekuru

Chihwa. When it happened for the first time, I rushed to Sekuru Chihwa with US$200, but he refused to accept it.

“The baboons come to my homestead once a week in broad daylight and at night we hear voices of people singing that I should pay what I owe them,” he said.

Mr Ndaruza said he now fears that his wife might suffer a miscarriage.

“I do not know how far Sekuru Chihwa will take this. I fear that my wife or the child she is carrying might not make it because the baboons and voices claim that they will take back what belongs to them, which in this case is the pregnancy,” he said.

Mr Ndaruza’s neighbour and uncle,