IT is a universally accepted truth that every society has at any one given time its great names that remain embedded in its local history. Some of these names might not have been known elsewhere, but nevertheless, they remain great within the locality of their residence.
Dimingo was one great herbalist/ traditional healer who used to stay in Seventh Street in Makokoba in the 1960s. Dimingo, it is said, could cure all kinds of ailments ranging from any form of cancer to mental health problems. People would come from all corners of the country, and even from neighbouring countries to seek treatment from Dimingo.
A source of mine informed me that even white people would visit Dimingo for his services. It is rumoured that Dimingo, who was of Angolan origins, could sometimes transform into anything, for instance into a tree or a dog and would fly on a magic broom every night at exactly 12 midnight to collect herbs from his native country Angola, and he would land back at his house around 4am!
Let’s now move to Sizinda. There was a man by the name Chiyakayaka/Tshiyakayaka who was employed by the then Rhodesia Railways, Mechanical Workshops Department and was a much feared medicine man. He was said to possess incredible magical powers.
For instance he would absent himself at work and spend the day at home attending to his clients, but at the same time he would be seen at work carrying out his normal duties.
I know that this sounds stranger than fiction, but this is something that has been confirmed by at least three old gentlemen whom I spoke to. Tshiyakayaka would also make nocturnal flights to Malawi in a winnowing basket, “ukhomane”.
He used to keep a lot of goats in a bush nearby his house and the goats are said to have disappeared mysteriously soon after his death. There is a story still doing rounds in Sizinda about a notorious thief who once stole one of Tshiyakayaka’s goats, slaughtered it and consumed it.
Thereafter the thief was tormented by the goat which was always wailing and complaining in his tummy. “Ngiyimbuzi kaTshiyakayaka meee… meee”. “Wangidlelani, meee meee” The thief had to go and confess to Tshiyakayaka, who charged him a hefty fine for the theft. It was after the payment of the fine that the torment came to a stop.
No one could occupy his house after he died as it was rumoured or feared that the house was haunted.
How far true that is, no one really knows. There is an area in Sizinda Township that is known as “ko Tshiyakayaka”. Even up to now the mere mention of the name Tshiyakayaka sends cold shivers of fear in peoples’ spines.
Now enter the eccentric old man Mankonkonya. He was a very close associate of Tshiyakayaka. He was a very old man, but fit, short in stature, bald-headed with a bit of white hairs protruding from his nostrils and ears. No one knew his real age. When I first saw him, he was very old and that was around 1971 or thereabouts.
My elder brothers who had first seen him in the late 1960s also said the first time they had set eyes on him, he was a very old man. Our parents, who had first set eyes on him in 1962 when Sizinda Township had opened its doors to its first residents also had seen Mankonkonya as a very old man.
He was an uncanny and weird old man, and people would just tremble at the sight of him. There is not a single kid who could stand the sight of that old man. He could just go to any random house and food would be quickly prepared for him, especially tea, he loved tea. At the sight of Mankonkonya the children would run away and some screaming in fear.
We never knew what it was that made the children to fear him. Even the older people would only feel comfortable after he had departed from the house that he had visited.
No one was willing to occupy the late Tshiyakayaka’s house, and the few people who ever tried did not last for even two days.
They claimed to hear strange and eerie sounds in the house at night. At times they would find themselves sleeping outside the house in the mornings and their belongings strewn all over the yard. This would make people flee from the house.
The Rhodesia Railways, which by then owned the Sizinda houses decided to lock it up. It was only old Mankonkonya who occupied the house and he had no problem in staying there. He was not a Railway employee, but because of the fear that he instilled even in white people, he was allowed to stay in that house.
Mankonkonya stayed in that house all by himself, since he was single, and he finally passed on sometime in the late 1970s.
There is this story of a certain Mr Nyirenda who had worked for the Hwange Colliery Company for a period of forty years. Upon attaining retirement age, Mr Nyirenda refused to go on pension insisting that he was still fit to go on working and he argued that during the 40 years he had been a very loyal employee to the company.
Despite putting up spirited protests, Nyirenda lost his bid to remain at work, and he was pensioned off. Early on the following morning after Nyirenda stopped work, the residents of Lwendulu Compound in Hwange woke up to witness a scene that had never been witnessed anywhere else in this world.
Nyirenda’s house was missing, and in its place there was a bush! It seems old Nyirenda, in his fit of rage, had decided to emigrate with his house, family, chicken and everything of his to his native country Malawi.
No one ever heard of him again, neither did he ever claim his pension benefits. It is indeed a strange and funny world.
Please note that these stories did indeed happen, but perhaps over the years there has been a bit of exaggerations here and there, like the part of flying overnight to other countries.
This article is in no way meant to offend or provoke anyone who might be a relative of any one the names mentioned in the articles, but just to go back down memory lane and enjoy the stories of old told in our neighbourhood, true or false.
Till we meet again next Sunday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Feedback: Clifford Kalibo/ Email: kaliboc@gmail.com/ WhatsApp: 0779146957/ Phone: 0783856228 / 0719856228