Dynamos have reportedly spent a jaw-dropping US$126,000 on n’angas (traditional healers or witchdoctors) over 126 league and cup matches, including CAF Confederation Cup ties, spanning 32 months.
What has raised eyebrows is that this spending spree came at a time when the club was failing to settle relatively modest debts owed to two Ghanaian players: Emmanuel Paga and Frederick Botchway.
FIFA has since slapped Dynamos with a ban from registering new players both locally and internationally, as the club still owes Paga US$8,500 and Botchway US$10,000.
The US$18,500 owed to the duo is just a small slice of the US$126,000 Dynamos reportedly paid to a team of sangomas during the same period.
Paga joined the DeMbare in February 2022, while Botchway arrived a year later. The calculation of payments to the n’angas is based on the number of games Dynamos played since Paga’s arrival.
Between February 2022 and December 2023, when Paga left the club, Dynamos played 126 matches across all competitions.
According to H-Metro sources, including former club officials, the club paid a flat US$1,000 per match to the n’angas. One source told H-Metro:
Vana sekuru’s argument is that if they were not helping the team then things would have been far worse than what we have seen in the past few years.
So, when the team loses 1-0 for example, vana sekuru will say that if it wasn’t for them then it would have been a humiliation like 4-0. It’s a delicate situation and it’s something that is believed in at our club.
At a media conference called by the club’s supporters in Harare on Thursday, one of the people who addressed the media raised the issue of sangomas being paid while the welfare of players was being neglected.
Sources have told H-Metro that even now, with DeMbare going through a rough patch, some club officials are still sneaking into Rufaro Stadium between midnight and dawn on match days to carry out rituals they believe will “help the team.”
One source said there’s growing concern that more former Dynamos players might report the club to FIFA over unpaid wages, which could lead to even more sanctions. Said the source:
The other day, it was Gwekwerere, and the case went to FIFA, and he won his case. Now we have Paga and Fred, and they will have to be paid. Who is next? Urikhob, Frank (Makarati) Illunga, Ziocha, Mathe?
More: The Herald