From Lusaka Times
Monday, December 13, 2010
Zambia: Residents find naked ‘wizard’ in the compound

The Police discharged a man who was arrested on suspicion of witchcraft when he was found naked in a backyard at one of the houses in Livingstone’s Dambwa Central Compound last week. Eyewitnesses said the man who happened to be a stranger was discovered nude in the early hours of the morning at a certain House in the DB Section of the compound. Some Dambwa residents eventually started beating up the man while others demanded that he gets burnt with a tyre around his neck.

The residents claimed that the man was coming from Mulobezi using superstitious powers to fly all the way and consequently crash-landed. The uncompromising residents where positive that the man has been flying using a ‘juju’ Plane and eventually ran out of fuel commonly understood to be human blood. The elderly man, in his early sixties, was briefly manhandled by a multitude of residents before he was rushed to Dambwa Police Station.

A crew of scribes that rushed to the Police Post only found a crowd of people gathered outside the station mumbling among themselves as to why the Police released the man believed to be a wizard. Dambwa Central Police Officer-In-Charge, Gregory Sibajene could not comment whether the man was still in custody as his office was locked and his phone was off but a source close to the Police Station confirmed that the man was detained for almost an hour and released later. The source further disclosed that when questioned by Police, the man could not utter sensible words except that he stays in Mulobezi. The Police failed to figure out what his mission was in Livingstone as everything he said was incoherent.

Southern Province Commanding Officer, Lemmy Kajoba said the man was released on grounds of mental illness. Mr.Kajoba said many details could not be extracted from him since he was ill and had no case to answer.