Practitioners of African Traditional Religion (ATR) believe the recent Lake Kariba accident may not have been a mere accident, and that spiritual forces could have been involved. The government-owned Mbuya Nehanda ferry capsized on Lake Kariba on 11 August, killing 97 people. Seventy-seven people were rescued. Early reports put the number of people on board […]
Practitioners of African Traditional Religion (ATR) believe the recent Lake Kariba accident may not have been a mere accident, and that spiritual forces could have been involved.
The government-owned Mbuya Nehanda ferry capsized on Lake Kariba on 11 August, killing 97 people. Seventy-seven people were rescued.
Early reports put the number of people on board at 153, based on an account by survivor and crew member Anyway Chambati, while the government later estimated that about 180 people, including passengers and crew, were aboard — far exceeding the vessel’s authorised capacity of 90.
The discrepancy has raised questions about the exact number of people on board and whether all those believed to have been on the ferry have been accounted for.
Speaking to The Midweek Watch, Masvingo-based svikiro Blessed Mudzitirwa, popularly known as Sekuru Mhofu, said generations of African communities have recognised the existence of spiritual beings associated with rivers, lakes and other bodies of water.
These beliefs include traditions surrounding njuzu or manjuzu, although he warned against treating all water spirits as one category.
In his understanding, there are “njuzu dzakanaka nedzakaipa”, reflecting a traditional cosmology in which water spirits are understood differently depending on their nature and relationship with people.
For Mhofu, the deeper concern is the erosion of chivanhu — the traditional values, practices and procedures that once governed the relationship between communities and spiritually significant places.
“Matambudziko aya ungava mucherechedzo weku kushaisha chivanhu,” he said, arguing that some of the events being witnessed could be interpreted as evidence that traditional conduct has been neglected.
“Tiri kukoniwa. Vari kuita vacho havana kuchena, vamwe vari kunobata mushonga yakaipa vachiita manjuzu avo zvese zviri kusangana mudziva,” he said, suggesting that people were no longer observing procedures considered necessary when interacting with the waters.
Against this background, he believes Lake Kariba should undergo a traditional cleansing process.
However, he stressed that this could not be undertaken by one person or turned into a public spectacle.
“This is not something that can be done by one person. The elders must come together and speak with one voice,” he said, adding that traditional elders and people with knowledge of the area’s spiritual traditions would have to be consulted.
He also warned against using traditional beliefs for entertainment or personal gain, saying any intervention must be approached with humility and respect.
Mhofu believes the tragedy is not necessarily evidence that a spiritual being caused the ferry to capsize.
Rather, it is a moment that should force society to examine its relationship with the lake and consider whether traditional obligations have been neglected.
He also questioned the meaning attached to the phenomenon known as the Binga Wave, saying that while physical explanations may exist for changes in the lake, traditional interpretations can also attach meaning to unusual occurrences. In his view, such events may carry messages that require spiritual interpretation.
Mhofu said annual rituals traditionally associated with Kariba had not been performed in the past two years, which he believes forms part of a wider abandonment of practices that once governed communities’ relationship with the lake.
