HARARE, Zimbabwe - A bogus traditional healer who persuaded a businesswoman to hire "mermaids" and accommodate them in a Harare hotel to help find a stolen car was convicted of theft by false pretenses, court officials said Tuesday.

Harare magistrate Sandra Nhau found Edina Chizema guilty of swindling a businesswoman of her savings with promises that mermaids would help recover the luxury car in 2004 and solve the businesswoman's unspecified "personal problems."

In Zimbabwe, where tribal superstition is deeply entrenched, prosecutors said Chizema persuaded Margaret Mapfumo to pay 200 million Zimbabwe dollars (about $30,000) to hire mermaids, feed and accommodate them in a Harare hotel, buy power generators for a floodlit lakeside ceremony and invoke ancestral spirits to find the missing car.

Some of the money was to be used to buy a bull whose genitals — described in court as the animal's "strong part" — would point out the car thief, prosecutors said.

At a hearing Monday, the magistrate said Chizema, who had pleaded not guilty and claimed to be a spirit medium, was not a credible witness and the "idiosyncrasies" of her plea were not recognized in law.

Chizema will be sentenced to imprisonment or a fine at a sentencing hearing later, the court officials said.

In Zimbabwe, prominent figures and even leading politicians have often been the victims of such scams.

I cannot remember the quote from Ruark's book Uhuru exactly ,but it's meaning approximates,"They have not long been out of the trees".Another glorious and hardly PC way to put it,"You can take them out of the jungle,but you can't take the jungle out of them."

In Nigeria, my guys killed a big snake that was on one of our swamp drilling barges. They cooked it and ate - I thought was little weird but ok by me as long as they work.

Next thing I knew, we had 200 local swamp dwellers threatening to burn us up as we ate one of their "protector ancestors". I had to supply 3 soccer balls and 22 sets of jerseys to calm the masses. All of this for a snake.

Zim is a little bit the same.

In Harare, I can get you a couple of mermaids and a hotel room for a lot less than $30,000. Mermaid, Little Bo Peep, French Maid, School Girl whatever you like.

Regards,

Terry

Terry,

Your probably right, but you can also catch something that you can't wash off with Babo or in modern times Comet.

quote:

Originally posted by eyedoc:
I cannot remember the quote from Capstick's book Uhuru exactly ,but it's meaning approximates,"They have not long been out of the trees".Another glorious and hardly PC way to put it,"You can take them out of the jungle,but you can't take the jungle out of them."

"Uhuru" was Ruark's, not Capstick's.

I think I was editing my post at the same time you were typing yours.

Until they "open their eyes" and see the truth they will always fall victim/prey to things such as this.