Muti peddlers mushroom
WOMEN of various ages, shapes and sizes beat a hasty retreat into a nearby parking lot the moment they saw me approaching a place where they were surrounding a foul-mouthed old lady with more than a fair share of pimples who was selling a motley of herbs.
So fast were the transactions they were conducting that the women would simply hand over money to the lady who would give them a plastic sachet which they quickly slipped into their handbags and continued with life as if nothing had happened.
Sadly, the moment I neared the corner where they were standing, the women started giggling as they covered their faces while others ran in various directions to ensure I did not recognise them.
“Ah vasikana pano paipa, pane murume ari kupfuura,” one of the women shouted, signalling that an intruder was fast approaching.
The journalist in me prompted me to ask one of the women what was going on and she told me that it was a grouping of responsible mothers’ eager to keep the love fires burning in their homes.
“Nothing sinister my brother. These are responsible women seeking to boost romance and keep the love fire burning. If they do not do this, their marriages will collapse. It’s an age-old thing such that even your grandmother, mother, sister or wife have visited the place before.”
Before I could continue with my journey, the foul-mouthed woman quipped: “Tell him the truth. We are building homes here. Hapana chinoshamisira chirikuitika pano. We have herbs for men too and if you try this, you will appreciate how helpful I am to the whole nation.”
Welcome to Harare Central Business District (CBD)’s pavements which have been turned into unregistered herbal clinics by self-styled traditional healers who appear not to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Men and women seeking love are resorting to using herbs, while those looking for jobs are doing so too. Those with pending cases in the courts of law are known to use herbs just like others experiencing a lot of misfortunes.
People who suspect their relatives of bewitching them also use the magical potions to cleanse themselves, earning herbalists’ large sums of money.
Some people having challenges collecting bad debts are also known to use herbs to induce payments and those ladies finding it hard to find life partners are also seeking help from street traditional healers.
Whether or not the herbalists are licensed and whether or not their medicines are effective, is a story for another day, but the herbalists appear geared to stay.
“We help women with conception problems, tighten their reproductive organs and ensure homes do not collapse when we have immediate solutions,” the foulmouthed seller said with a broad smile which exposed her yellowing teeth.
The herbalist said she had solutions specifically for women, others for men and others that have to be incorporated in food for the whole family or just for men.
“I have been in this trade for too long. We have some herbs that are used to deal with bad body odours, bad breath, erectile problems and even tighten women. We have some herbs which when a woman puts in her husband’s food, everything falls into place,” she said.
Simply called “herbs”, “love portions”, “mupfuhwira”, “family solutions” among a host of other names, Harare’s streets are awash with the herbs and there appears to be a ready market for the herbs.
As I commit pen to paper gentle reader, a number of people who use herbs are usually seen trooping to sangomas, elderly people with vast knowledge on their use and even apostolic sect shrines.
Yours truly is reliably informed that some self-styled prophets even conduct sessions to deal with people’s sexuality challenges for a fee.
There are also remedies for the workplace which people seeking to evade investigations and or maintain good working relations are given to bath with or chew.
It is not unusual to walk into a bar in downtown Harare and find guzzlers being made to chew some herbs in the hope that they help enhance virility or solve stomach problems.
Some people have gained acclaim for selling herbs to their peers and strangers.
There are some bars which prohibit patrons from selling or consuming uncertified herbs in their premises, but still people do so.
“People are a funny lot. We make it a point that they do not sell or consume herbs here, but they continue doing so. Men who drink opaque beer are especially notorious for wanting to mix their beer with herbs to enhance their masculinity.
“Others move with so many herb in their wallets and our warnings usually fall on deaf ears. We wonder what it is with herbs that makes people so fond of them,” said one bar owner in downtown Harare.
An imbiber who identified himself as Mhofu expressed genuine fears that people were compromising their health through the use of uncertified medicines.
“People are exchanging harmful things. In the past, we rescued a man who drank herbs which were meant for bathing and the result was just too ghastly to contemplate. People love herbs and it’s getting even worse with the resurgence of Covid-19.
“People are using anything they can lay their hands on to survive and we pray to God that nothing bad happens,” he said.
The use of herbs is as old as mankind. There are people who have died or gone bonkers after using magical powers wrongly.
Gentle reader, the use of uncertified herbs has reached unprecedented levels and please let’s take care of our ourselves and we must not compromise our health.