ZANU PF Chief Whip Pupurai Togarepi said tsikamutandas (self-styled witch hunters) and self-proclaimed prophets should be banned, saying they are fuelling ritual murders in the country.
Togarepi made the remarks on Tuesday during a question and answer session in the National Assembly. He said:
It is very painful that children are murdered gruesomely for lucky charms and in the belief that one’s business will grow, which is an unbelievable practice in this day and age.
We must go out there in the rural areas to inform people that what happened to the Murewa boy Tapiwa must never happen again in this country and as Zimbabweans we must put our heads together to deal with this scourge of ritual killings once and for all.
Those people that commit ritual murders must be severely punished, and these tsikamutandas must be banned because it is their devious work that has resulted in these child ritual murders.
Proportional representation legislator Memory Mbondiah (MDC Alliance) had urged Speaker Jacob Mudenda to engage the Ministry of Home Affairs over the ritual killing of a seven-year-old Murewa boy, Tapiwa Makore.
Mbondiah said the investigations into the matter should be quickened so that Tapiwa’s remains could be buried and give the family closure.