: But there are "valid" reasons to be out flying about
: naked - visit your concubine or try to murder your enemies.
: 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."
