A woman who spent more than 2 decades ministering as a prophetess says she has come to believe that the spiritual power she once used to pray for and heal people came from a chikwambo, or goblin. She says the discovery was followed by frightening dreams, estrangement from her family and a search for help that has not ended her distress.
Madzimai Yupa, the church name of Jane Ngulube, 39, originally from Shamva, says she began in the Johane Masowe yeJerusarema church. She later moved between other churches before stopping worship for a time. In her account, she had travelled around Zimbabwe, praying for people and offering healing at apostolic shrine grounds. She says many of the people she helped were in Epworth.
“I am a very famous prophetess in this country. I traveled to many masowe (apostolic shrine grounds) across the country praying for people and healing them. Where I helped people the most was in Epworth. To realize that the spirit I was using belonged to goblins, I was given ritual holy water (muteuro) by certain madzibaba (church elders/prophets) who said they wanted me to see the power I was using, and then I used it. After that, I started seeing short little people dressed in white robes (gamenzi) following me around,” says Madzimai Yupa.
She says the visions began after she used the ritual water given to her by the church elders. The figures she describes as short men in white robes then started appearing in her dreams, where she says they engaged in sexual acts with her. She also says she dreamt of breastfeeding puppies and having sexual relations with snakes.
“I dream of breastfeeding these short little old men who wear white robes, as well as many reddish puppies. I also dream of having sexual relations with snakes while they lick me,” says the woman.
At first, she says, snakes appeared in her dreams and told her that she belonged to them. The dreams have since become part of what she describes as a wider spiritual affliction. She says snakes lick her body in the dreams and that her skin has changed and become extremely dark. She also reports bleeding from her private parts after dreams in which she has sex with snakes.
The experiences have deepened a rupture with her relatives. Yupa says she has a small stick that was given to her by people she does not know, and that all 5 members of her family are prophets, including her children. But, she says, her relatives now avoid her because they believe she obtained wealth or spiritual powers through kuromba, a term she uses for dark ritual magic.
“I have a small stick that was given to me by people I do not know. In our family, there are five of us; all of us are prophets, including my children. My problem is that no relative wants anything to do with me anymore; they say I acquired wealth or powers through dark magic (kuromba),” says Madzimai Yupa.
She says other prophets once told her that she had a powerful angel. In her account, that explanation changed after more powerful people allegedly took the angel away and she was left with goblins. She says she does not know how the spirits came to be associated with her, and wants the attacks and disturbing dreams to stop.
“I do not know where this prophecy of mine using goblins came from, so I really need help. It is said that these evil spirits and goblins were placed upon me by close relatives. When I first started prophesying, other prophets used to say I possessed a great angel. Others say this angel was later stolen by more powerful individuals, and I was burdened with goblins, which I now use to prophesy,” says Madzimai Yupa.
Her search for an explanation has taken her to a traditional healer in Marondera. She says she went with relatives to a sangoma named Chichawa, who told her she needed a “back to sender” ritual. Yupa says she was given water to bathe with naked in the middle of the night and medicine to inhale. She says she also regularly dreams of walking among graves.
Yupa says she has been experiencing the problem for about 18 months. She rejects what she says are claims by some people that she is mentally ill, and connects the start of her distress to a ritual carried out by another prophet, who allegedly killed a chicken and circled its head above her while saying he was cleansing evil spirits.
“Because of this problem, some people go around saying I am mentally ill, but that is not the case. My trouble started when another prophet killed a chicken, took its head, and circled it over my head, claiming it was to cleanse evil spirits,” says Madzimai Yupa.
She says her 5 children have also stopped seeing her because they believe she practised kuromba. Yupa says she does not know where such practices could have come from and wants the disturbing dreams and attacks to end.
“If I did practice kuromba, I don’t know where I got it from. I want help so that my illness ends, so that these attacks on me stop, and so I stop having terrifying dreams,” says Madzimai Yupa.
She says that, when she seeks help, people tell her that an evil spirit speaks through her and names relatives, prophets she has worked with and a water spirit. She says the spirit accuses them of killing people in different places. Other spirits, she says, claim she works with njuzu, or water mermaids, and that human blood is stored in tents.
“These spirits say that we store human blood in tents, but I personally know nothing about it,” says Madzimai Yupa.
Madzibaba Gamba, whose name is Martin Madzura and who is from Budiriro 2 in Harare, says some prophets obtain their powers through kuromba. He warns worshippers not to assume that white robes alone prove a person is a true spiritual leader.
“Let us not just see white robes and assume we are all true worshippers. Many prophets are acquiring their prophetic powers through dark magic. You go to a place where your identity card number and phone number are revealed to you, but there is no spiritual breakthrough or salvation. Let us be careful about who places their hands on our heads; you can be burdened with goblins and various evil spirits,” says Madzibaba Gamba.
He also claims that some prophets use vultures’ heads to make their predictions. Gogo Shumba, whose name is Martha Tapfuma and who is from The Grange in Harare, similarly says people seek prophecy and traditional medicine through kuromba, often in pursuit of money.
“Out of a desire for money, there are people now seeking prophecy and traditional medicine through dark magic, which ultimately leaves their families facing serious troubles,” says Gogo Shumba.
Yupa’s account comes amid separate cases that have drawn attention to the influence and conduct of religious leaders in Zimbabwe. In March 2024, police said they had rescued 251 children from a farm linked to self-proclaimed apostolic prophet Ishmael Chokurongerwa, in a raid north-west of Harare. Police said 246 of the children had no birth certificates, school-age children were not attending formal education, and 16 unregistered graves were found. Chokurongerwa and 7 others were charged in connection with child-rights and burial-law offences. That case involved different people and circumstances from Yupa’s account.
Yupa says she has spent 23 years ministering to people. She is now asking for help with what she describes as attacks, frightening dreams and a family relationship that has broken down. Her account places the change she experienced after the ritual water at the centre of a difficult question for her: how did a career built around prophecy and healing become, in her telling, a source of fear she cannot escape?