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The Lusaka Magistrate Court has jailed a Ugandan witch doctor for swindling a Zambian woman who wanted back her “lost lover.”
Mwebantu reports that 27-year-old Kafeero Omar was found guilty of stealing K46,000 from Analisha Jere and was sentenced to five years imprisonment with hard labour.
According to court documents, Omar, a businessman was charged with theft for stealing K46,000 from Jere on September 11 last year.
In her testimony, Jere told Lusaka magistrate Nsunge Chanda that she saw an advert on Facebook which showed the services that Omar could render as a witch doctor.
The advert indicated that the Omar could heal different diseases and return lost boyfriends and spouses.
The complainant narrated that she got the Omar’s number from the advert and called him upon which he gave her directions to his residence in Chilenje.
When she reached Omar’s residence, his agents asked her to pay K500 as consultation fee.
Jere narrated that she told Omar that the purpose of her visit to the shrine was to return her boyfriend’s lost love as they were having problems.
After narrating her problems to Omar, he prepared some medicine and took Jere into a sacrist where he began to do incantations in a bid to awaken spiritual fathers.
After the spiritual fathers were revived Omar then explained Jere’s problems to them.
Jere said upon completing the ritual she went home and later in the evening her boyfriend went to her house.
“I was very excited that the medicine had worked and I informed my ‘papa’ that the charms had worked because my boyfriend was back, and my papa told me to go back to the shrine the following morning,” said Jere.
She said when she went back to the shrine Omar requested that she pays another k500 in order keep her man, and that she needed find to material which would come through spirits from Tanzania.
She later paid the money and the said material meant to keep the boyfriend, had been sent spiritually from Tanzania the following day.
The complainant said she went back to the said room and Omar called the spiritual” fathers” and claimed that the spirits declared that she was a blessed lady and all the money that she had was supposed to be brought to the ‘papa’ so that it could be prayed for.
“I refused that I had no money but Omar insisted that there was money somewhere, I should just take it to him so that it should be blessed,” she narrated.
“When I went home, I thought about the discussion with my ‘papa’ because I had a K46,000 in my bedroom, I called the herbalist and told him that I had K46,000 which I took to be blessed,” she said.
Jere said Omar put the money in the trunk and did incantations and asked her to sing a certain song.
“I was told to sing a song that ‘fathers, fathers come’. When we sang that song, the fathers were coming, when the fathers came, I was told that indeed I was a blessed woman and the money I had brought should remain in the trunk for a blessing,” she said.
Jere told the court that when she went to collect the money the following day, the traditional doctor told her that the “fathers” had directed that the money should not be taken because it was not blessed.
On the third day when she decided to go and collect her money, she discovered that her ‘papa’ had vacated the premises and that his mobile phone was switched off.
Upon realizing that she had been swindled out of her money, Jere decided to report the matter to police and investigations were instituted in the matter and eventually led to Omar’s apprehension.
But defending himself, Omar told magistrate Chanda that Jere was his client whom he helped by all means to charm her lover.
He said was a true prophet as he could perform miracles, but could not demonstrate how he performed miracles because he was incapacitated without his charms.
He denied stealing the K46,000 but agreed that he called the forefathers in his incantations to help her admit the charm.
He also rubbished claims that he relocated because he was in possession of a K46,000 but because he found a cheaper house which costed K2,000 to rent per month.
However, Magistrate Chanda convicted Omar saying the state had proved its case against him beyond reasonable doubt.
“It is true from the evidence before me that the complainant indeed gave the accused money and he used some tricks to steal from her. I find that the accused person indeed stole the money, I find him guilty of the offence and I convict him accordingly,” Magistrate Chanda said.
In mitigation, Omar asked for the Court’s leniency saying he was a first offender and has a wife who is pregnant adding that he was a bread winner and if sent to jail his family would suffer.
But the court ruled that it was unfortunate that Omar traveled all the way from Uganda to come and commit a crime in Zambia.
“If you are a herbalist, then you have to perform according to whatever certificate you have so that people pay you for the services and not to swindle citizens. I will give you a custodial sentence to deter other friends who enter this country to come and rob people in Zambia,” Magistrate Chanda said.
“I sentence you to five years imprisonment with hard labour with effect from date of arrest.” The Magistrate added.
Source:ZambianObserver
