http://farshores.topcities.com/farshores/pflywiz.htm
Zambians Traumatized By Crash-landing Flying Wizards :
More than 30 stark naked people suspected to be wizards
"crash-landed" on rooftops of houses owned by families,
institutions and filling stations in Zambia last year,
leaving the population puzzled.
The latest of these bizarre incidents occurred on New Year
eve when one of such suspected wizard crash-landed in
Kasanda, a mining township near the midlands central town of
Kabwe, 80 km north of Lusaka, the capital. He sustained
fatal body and knee injuries on impact.
The suspected wizard, believed to be in his 50's, reportedly
fell on the roof of house owned by one Christopher Muwowo at
about 01:15 hours Zambian time, causing pandemonium among
sleeping family members.
Muwowo, a minibus driver and other members of his family
were awakened by a loud bang on the roof, which also
prompted dogs to start barking.
The man's wife, who was the first to get out of the house,
was astonished to find a stark naked man kneeling on the
doorsteps. She yelled for help.
When Muwowo dashed outside and asked the strange visitor
what he was looking for at that awkward hour, the naked man
simply said "kuku" (meaning Please Help). After that, he
could not answer or talk anything until he was taken to
Kasanda police station.
Curious neighbours, mostly dressed in their night wear who
had heard the man's screams, went to Muwowo's house, only to
be shocked by the presence of a naked man sprawling on the
ground.
The naked uninvited guest was taken to Kasanda Police
Station.
"Cases of witches and wizards crash-landing are rare in
Kabwe but very common in Lusaka," said one onlooker.
Among the first people to rush to Kasanda Police Station to
have a glimpse of the wizard was Kabwe Mayor John Siamuzyulu
and Central Province Police Chief Ryan Chitoba.
Residents eager to see the wizard besieged the police
station. A good Samaritan provided a blanket to cover the
hapless man.
But since he could not talk, the police had difficulties to
establish his name, age, his destination and where he was
coming from.
The suspected wizard was later taken to the Department of
Social Welfare to await being taken to the Traditional
Healers and Practitioners Association of Zambia or THAPAZ
who had agreed to exorcise him.
Unfortunately, the wizard died before he was charged and
police have appealed to the Zambian public to come forward
and identify the man.
THAPAZ president, "Dr" Rodwell Vongo, who heads a group of
40,000 local traditional herbalists, claimed in an interview
with PANA that the Kabwe wizard was the only fatal case out
of the over a hundred wizards who had so far crash-landed on
roof-tops of houses in the country.
"They normally crash-land, giving lack of fuel as the cause
of crash-landing and ending their missions prematurely,"
Vongo said.
Asked to clarify why wizards must fly naked, Vongo explained
that this was the only way they could conceal their identity
when flying.
"But the most important secret in their view is that the
potency of their concoctions would respond to their taking
off from the ground when naked than when they are dressed,"
he claimed
THAPAZ's director of Information, "Dr' Alex Kekelwa, said
that exhaustion of fuel was not the only reason why wizards
crash-land at times.
"Sometimes, some of these chaps fly over enemy territory,
and they are shot down with traditional ground to air
missiles.
"I am a traditional herbalist and my mission is to save life
through healing and so THAPAZ does not recognise witchcraft.
But if a wizard flew over my house, which is my territory, I
will certainly respond by protecting my family and myself by
shooting down a wizard.
I do not want to say anything beyond that", Kekelwa
stressed.
Kekelwa declined to unravel the motives of flying wizards,
saying he was not one of them to know their strategies. "May
be some of these guys have concubines they want to visit
hundred of kilometres away from where they live while others
have sinister motives of going to kill their targeted
enemies."
