Owls sent to punish uncle

Johanne Ngowera said he has been seeing the nocturnal birds in broad daylight after failing to pay his nephew, Taurai Makombe and his wife, Stella Shepherd compensation after his cattle strayed into their garden and destroyed their crops.

The matter appeared before Chief Makoni recently.

Ngowera said soon after being “visited” by the nocturnal birds, his health deteriorated.

He also said he tried to chase away the owls with fire and prayers, but they continue coming back.

Ngowera appealed to Chief Makoni to intervene and help him resolve the matter peacefully.

While narrating his ordeal, Ngowera said his nightmarish experience started after his elder brother’s death. Makombe planted a mysterious flower on his grave.

He said since then, their relationship has been that of a cat and a mouse as they accuse each other of wizardly.

“At first they planted a flower on my late brother’s grave. I confronted Makombe, and he said the flower was meant to protect my late brother. My grandchild died mysteriously afterwards, but we remained mum. After that, a cow which was grazing near the graves also died mysteriously.

“My cattle later strayed into his garden, and he wrote me a letter demanding compensation for the damage. I still have the letter up to now. I went to his homestead with the intention of compensating them, and he refused. His wife shouted at me, demanding compensation, while Makombe insisted that he did not want to be compensated. She threatened to unleash owls on me. I took the threat in jest,” he said.

Ngowera said four days later he was shocked to see four owls flying towards him in broad daylight.

“I was roofing a client’s house when my hands suddenly went numb. After that I saw four owls flying towards me. They flew past me and I asked my workmates if they had seen the owls too, but they replied in the negative. I asked them to assist me to climb down from the roof since my hands were numb. My workmates assisted me to walk home. I don’t know what happened thereafter as I appeared to be hypnotised,” he said.

The man said his colleagues and wife later told him that while he appeared as if he was in a trance, he was demanding that Makombe be compensated for the loss he incurred when his (Ngowera)’s cattle strayed into his garden.

“I manifested for three days. Three days later, Makombe visited and confronted me about word doing the rounds in the neighbourhood that I was manifesting. I told him that I was in a trance and did not know what was happening,” he said.

Ngowera said some days later, Makombe came back with his father, Smizzer Makombe, who accused him of labelling his son, Taurai and wife as sorcerers.

“Smizzer was with his son and his daughter-in-law when he confronted me. I was not feeling well, but they manhandled me. After that, Shepherd went outside and shouted that I had been healed. True to her word, the whole illness disappeared. As they left, she claimed that my dog had bitten her, a matter which they reported to the police, and I was arrested,” he said.

Ngowera said he is now living in fear that the owls will continue terrorising him.

“I never accused her of witchcraft, but she threatened that she would send me owls to haunt me. Just like what she had promised, I saw owls flying towards me in broad daylight. After that a mysterious ailment attacked me. Before they left my homestead, Shepherd shouted from outside, saying I was lucky to have been healed. Immediately the ailment disappeared. I never labelled anyone a witch,” he said.

Makombe denied that his wife threatened to unleash owls on his uncle.

“When we were told that he was not feeling well, we visited him. He told us that he was feeling weak in his joints. He even suggested that they take him to a local clinic. Someone later told us that he was hallucinating, and asking to be taken to my homestead so that he compensate us. We suspected that he had developed a mental illness,” said Makombe.

He said people in the area were now despising them as sorcerers.

“I heard him accusing my wife of sending owls to haunt him because he had refused to compensate us for the damage caused to our crops by his straying cattle. We do not want any compensation from him. He accused my wife of trying to kill him. He insisted that my wife’s plot had dismally flopped,” said Makombe.

The feuding parties were referred to a traditional healer for consultations for the truth to be ascertained.