The belief that human blood can buy prosperity is a dark shadow that continues to haunt parts of Zimbabwe. In the quest for quick riches, some business owners have turned to the most barbaric acts imaginable, only to find that the road to ill-gotten wealth leads straight to a prison cell. This is the tragic story of Grace Murenza, a mother of five who paid the ultimate price for another man’s greed, and the three men whose dreams of commercial success ended in tears behind the cold walls of a maximum-security prison.
In a scathing judgement delivered at the High Court in Harare, Justice Gibson Mandaza sent a clear and uncompromising message to those who still believe in the power of human sacrifice. He sentenced three men—Victor Mazhambe, Absey Bizek Kahuruva, and Barnabas Murenza—to life imprisonment for the brutal murder and decapitation of the 34-year-old Rushinga woman.
The judge did not hold back his disgust for the superstition-driven crime, addressing the wider business community directly. Justice Mandaza ruled:
“It is high time that those in the business community disabuse themselves of the misguided belief that charms derived from human blood enhance commercial performance or bring prosperity.”
To dismantle the absurd myth that human blood is a shortcut to corporate success, the judge pointed to some of the country’s most successful and legitimate enterprises. He noted:
“This country is home to thriving enterprises, among them Econet, Spar, Pick and Pay, Zimplats, and many others, all of which have achieved success through sound and modern business management, and not through the use of human body parts.”
For the three convicted men, the illusion of wealth evaporated the moment the handcuffs clicked shut. Their conspiracy, which they believed would secure their financial future, instead guaranteed that they would spend the rest of their natural lives in jail.
The Grim Discovery in Manyozo Village
The nightmare began on the morning of September 23, 2024, in the quiet village of Manyozo, located in the Rushinga district of Mashonaland Central. It was a morning that a young girl would never forget. Walking into her mother’s home, the daughter of Grace Murenza made a discovery that would traumatise her for life.
There, lying in a pool of blood, was the body of her 34-year-old mother. But the scene was made infinitely more horrifying by one detail: the head was entirely missing.
Grace Murenza was not just a mother; she was the sole breadwinner for her five children. Her death left a vulnerable family completely shattered, with no one to feed or care for them. As the village woke up to the horror, a search was launched to find the missing head.
It did not take long for the gruesome truth to emerge. A local villager, using a Blair toilet at a nearby Zion church shrine, looked down into the pit and spotted the severed head. The treatment of the victim’s remains shocked even the most hardened investigators. As Justice Mandaza would later write in his judgement: “The treatment of the deceased’s head in such a manner constitutes inhumane and degrading conduct,”
A Coldly Calculated Plot
The police investigation quickly revealed that this was not a crime of passion or a sudden outburst of violence. It was a cold, premeditated, and carefully coordinated assassination, planned weeks in advance. At the centre of this conspiracy was Barnabas Murenza, a local businessman who believed his commercial ventures were failing because he lacked spiritual fortification.
Desperate to boost his business interests, Barnabas decided to seek out a powerful ritual charm. He believed that the blood of a woman would provide the spiritual power he needed to attract customers and secure his fortune. To execute his plan, he needed accomplices, and he was willing to pay handsomely for them.
Barnabas approached Victor Mazhambe and offered him a staggering sum of US$2,500—a small fortune in rural Zimbabwe—to carry out the killing. Mazhambe agreed to the deal. To assist in the operation, they recruited Absey Bizek Kahuruva.
However, the most disturbing aspect of the conspiracy was the involvement of David Meja. Meja was Grace Murenza’s former husband. Despite their past relationship and the five children they shared, Meja agreed to betray the mother of his children for a share of the blood money.
The Execution of Grace Murenza
On the night of September 22, 2024, the trap was sprung. David Meja played his part in the conspiracy with chilling precision. He approached his former wife under a false pretence, tricking her into entering a bedroom at a local homestead. Grace, suspecting nothing, walked into the room.
Waiting in the shadows of the dark room were Victor Mazhambe and Absey Bizek Kahuruva. The moment Grace entered, the men attacked. Mazhambe, wielding an axe, struck the defenceless woman twice. The heavy blows instantly incapacitated her.
While she lay dying or already dead, David Meja took a sharp instrument and severed her head from her body.
With the first part of their horrific task complete, the men placed the decapitated head into a container and carried it through the darkness to the Zion church shrine. Barnabas Murenza was waiting for them. At the shrine, Barnabas allegedly collected the fresh blood draining from the severed head, believing this fluid held the key to his future riches. Once he had secured the blood for his ritual charms, Barnabas coldly ordered the men to get rid of the evidence. The men chose the easiest and most disrespectful disposal method available: they threw the severed head down the pit of a Blair toilet at the shrine, where it remained until it was discovered the following morning.
The Long Arm of the Law
The perpetrators believed they had committed the perfect crime. They had the blood for their rituals, and they believed the spirits would protect them from detection. But their confidence was short-lived. Zimbabwean police investigators worked tirelessly, piecing together the movements of the suspects and tracking down witnesses.
Within days, the conspiracy unravelled. Victor Mazhambe, Absey Bizek Kahuruva, Barnabas Murenza, and David Meja were arrested and thrown into remand custody.
However, David Meja would never face a earthly judge. While awaiting trial in prison, the former husband fell ill and died in remand custody. His death meant he escaped the final legal reckoning, but his three accomplices were left to face the full wrath of the justice system.
Throughout the trial at the Harare High Court, the three remaining accused maintained a cold and detached demeanour. They showed absolutely no remorse for the horrific pain they had inflicted on Grace Murenza and her five surviving children. This lack of humanity did not go unnoticed by the presiding judge. Justice Mandaza described the murder as “exceptionally brutal” and “premeditated,” stating: “An innocent life was extinguished in the most barbaric of circumstances,”
In delivering his final verdict, the judge made it clear that the court had a duty to protect the public and uphold the value of human life. He stated that any sentence less than life imprisonment “would bring disrepute to the administration of justice.” With those words, the three men were led away to begin their life sentences, their dreams of wealth shattered, ending in a lifetime of tears and regret.
A Pattern of Ritual Horror in Zimbabwe
The tragedy of Grace Murenza is not an isolated incident. It is part of a deeply concerning pattern of ritual killings, often referred to as muti or juju murders, that continue to surface in Zimbabwe. These crimes are driven by the belief that human body parts—such as eyes, hearts, tongues, breasts, and hands—or human blood can be harvested to create powerful traditional medicines or charms. These charms are sought after by individuals looking for political power, academic success, or commercial wealth.
Landmark Ritual Murder Cases in Zimbabwe
- The Case of Grace Murenza (2024) Grace Murenza (34) was beheaded in Rushinga. Her former husband, David Meja, and three accomplices (Mazhambe, Kahuruva, Murenza) carried out the murder for a US$2,500 contract. The goal was to harvest her blood to boost a local business. The three surviving accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2026.
- The Case of Tapiwa Makore Jnr (2020) Seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore Jnr was brutally murdered and dismembered in Murewa. His uncle, Tapiwa Makore Snr, and an accomplice, Tafadzwa Shamba, killed the young boy to harvest his body parts to bring luck to a family business. The case drew massive national attention. The killers were sentenced to death in July 2023, a sentence later commuted to life imprisonment in May 2025.
- The “Juju” Trade Investigations (2025) A major undercover investigation by BBC Africa Eye in late 2025 exposed the active underground network of “juju” practitioners across West and Southern Africa. The investigation revealed that practitioners still actively offer to source human body parts for wealthy clients, proving that the demand for these horrific rituals remains a persistent threat.
The case of Tapiwa Makore Jnr remains one of the most infamous examples of this horror in recent Zimbabwean history. In September 2020, the young boy disappeared from his family’s garden in Murewa. His dismembered body was later found, but his head was never recovered. The investigation revealed that his own uncle had conspired to kill him to use his body parts for ritual purposes to boost a cabbage-farming business.
The trial of Tapiwa’s killers concluded in July 2023, with the Harare High Court sentencing Tafadzwa Shamba and Tapiwa Makore Snr to death. However, due to Zimbabwe’s ongoing legal debates surrounding the death penalty and automatic appeal processes, their death sentences were substituted with life imprisonment in May 2025. The parallels between the Makore case and the Rushinga case are striking: both involved close family members betraying their own relatives for the promise of commercial success through blood rituals.
The Illusion of Spiritual Wealth
Sociologists and traditional leaders in Zimbabwe have long argued against the commercialisation of traditional beliefs. Traditional healers’ associations, such as the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (ZINATHA), have repeatedly distanced themselves from these gruesome practices, stating that genuine traditional medicine does not involve the use of human body parts or blood.
Instead, these killings are viewed as the work of rogue practitioners and desperate, greedy individuals who exploit the superstitious beliefs of gullible business owners. In times of economic hardship, the temptation to find a spiritual shortcut to wealth becomes stronger for some, leading to a rise in these horrific crimes.
The High Court’s ruling in the Rushinga case serves as a vital legal precedent. By imposing the harshest possible sentences and publicly naming successful corporations that succeeded through hard work and modern management rather than witchcraft, the judiciary is actively working to dismantle the cultural legitimacy of ritual killings.
For the family of Grace Murenza, the life sentences handed down to her killers offer some measure of justice, but they cannot replace a mother. Her five children must now grow up without the woman who worked every day to keep them fed. As for the three men who thought they could buy success with US$2,500 and a container of human blood, they are left with nothing but the grim reality of a life behind bars—a stark reminder that the pursuit of wealth through murder will always end in tears.