A family dispute over a visit to the grave of a man who died days after securing a visa to travel to Poland has been brought before Chief Mutasa’s community court.
The case involves white garment prophet Madzibaba Taurai Machisa and Pfungwa Mwoyoweshumba, the father of the deceased.
The man died in a road accident in Mozambique while preparing to travel to Poland. He had already obtained a visa.
At the centre of the dispute is a visit to his grave and conflicting accounts of why it was made.
Machisa told the court that Mwoyoweshumba asked him to accompany him to the grave to pray and to ask his late son to avenge his death.
“One day after work, he asked me to go with him to his son’s grave because he wanted to pray and ask his son to avenge his death. I accompanied him, and he placed a stone near the head of the grave,” he said.
He said he became ill afterwards and that the deceased had been appearing to him in dreams, asking him to reveal what happened at the grave.
“I became ill, and another prophet told me my condition was linked to that visit. The deceased is now appearing in my dreams, demanding that I reveal the truth about what happened at the grave,” he said.
He said he wanted the deceased’s wife and children to be present so he could give his account.
Mwoyoweshumba denied that he had initiated the visit. He said Machisa was his prophet and had suggested they go to the grave.
“He was not simply accompanying me. He was my prophet and had told me that somebody had killed my son. He is the one who suggested that we go to the grave and evoke my son’s spirit so that he could avenge his own death,” he said.
The deceased’s widow, Merjury Mawoko, told the court she was concerned about the interest in her husband’s grave.
She said the last person to pray for him before his death was not Machisa but another prophet, and that after his death her father-in-law had wanted to take her children to the grave.
“My husband had already obtained his visa and was preparing to travel to Poland. The last person who prayed for him was not Machisa, but another prophet. Later, after his death, his father wanted to take my children to the grave,” she said.
“I did not know why he wanted to do that. My child had already fallen ill on our way to visit their grandparents, and I was worried about everything that was happening.”
The deceased’s brother, Allen Mwoyoweshumba, said Machisa had been close to the family and had prayed for his brother days before his death. He said at the funeral, Machisa had said the death was not natural.
“Whenever my brother needed prayers, Machisa was there. He even prayed for him a few days before his death. When my brother died, he told us another prophet had opened a spiritual portal that caused his death. He also insisted at the funeral that my brother had not died naturally,” he said.
“My brother’s visa had already been approved. Machisa called him and said he wanted to pray for him before he travelled to Poland. My brother went for those prayers and shortly afterwards died.”
Chief Mutasa criticised Mwoyoweshumba for conducting activities at the gravesite without informing traditional leadership.
“You were wrong, and as a village head you abused your office. You cannot conduct such activities at a gravesite without the knowledge and authority of traditional leadership,” he said.
He directed the family to jointly consult traditional healers to establish the circumstances surrounding the death and the grave visit.
More: The Manica Post
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