A community in Gwembe is spooked by a mysterious female worker who they say patronises a local clinic which authorities have now closed for it to be cleansed. The mysterious woman is allegedly masquerading as a nurse and sometimes as a pregnant woman at Makuyu Clinic in Chief Munyumbwe’s realm in Southern Province.

It is said that the woman is also harassing health workers in their homes at night, eating their eggs, sprinkling mealie meal on the floor and drinking their milk. The reports also have it that the unknown woman likes frequenting the maternity ward, where she feigns being in labour or as a nurse helping other women to deliver.

Gwembe District Commissioner Justus Phiri confirmed receiving the report. “I received a report from the community that there was a mysterious worker at the clinic causing havoc, so I visited the area with my team and indeed the situation was bad,” he said.

Mr Phiri said he summoned 29 headmen last week to explain what was happening. “During the meeting, the headmen said the issue needs spiritual intervention so they invited a witch-finder to cleanse the facility and expose the people behind the mysterious nurse,” he said.

Mr Phiri said the district health department also decided to temporarily close the facility to secure the lives of the four health workers, including the security guard. “The health workers were not safe because they would hear a woman mourning but when they went to the labour ward, they found nothing. Sometimes they just heard a door closing on its own or someone calling their names,” he said.

Mr Phiri said the witch-finder went to the area and one of the health workers, an environmental technologist, believed to be in his 50s, was implicated in the matter. The DC said the elderly worker, working with three headmen, was said to be responsible for the mysterious woman.
Mr Phiri said one of the headmen incriminated in the matter fled the village to Monze police, where he is seeking refuge.

“But I do not know why they decided to send a ghost to the facility. I am thinking maybe he wanted health workers to be scared so that patients die,” Mr Phiri said. He said the witch-finder has continued to cleanse the facility and the health workers. Mr Phiri said the worker will be re-instated but the community does not want him to continue working at the facility.

He said the clinic might be re-opened on Monday after the witch-finder finishes with the cleansing exercise. Mr Phiri urged civil servants to behave in a civilised manner because engaging in witchcraft is an embarrassment to society. The matter has also been reported to the provincial minister’s office.

According to the DC, Gwembe experiences cases of witchcraft attacks on locals and civil servants “once in a while”.

Daily Mail