Witchdoctor murdered in Mulanje

Two men have been arrested in Mulanje for murdering a 39-year-old traditional healer in order to get rich.

The two are Francis Kachere and Christopher Kabu.

Police have identified the slain witchdoctor as Maluwa Tchale.

Mulanje police spokesperson Gresham Ngwira said that on August 21 this year two girls were fetching firewood and found a dead body in a pigeon peas garden.

Ngwira said when police in the company of a health official went there, they found the dead body but without a head.

“Since nobody including the chief claimed to know the deceased, the body was buried there after the chief offered a place at the graveyard.”

Following investigations and tips from the public, police arrested Kachere and Kabu.

According to preliminary interrogations, early last month a certain witchdoctor from Salima told the two that if they wanted to get rich they should find human brain.

On August 17 this year, Kabu went to the Maluwa’s house in Thyolo asking him to go and protect his (Kabu’s) house with charms. As the traditional healer Maluwa, who was also village headman Nkolokosa of Paramount chief Ngolongoliwa in Thyolo, was busy spreading the charms, the suspect hacked him with an axe on the neck and he died on the spot.

Kabu later took the body and dumped it in the pigeon peas garden.

Police also learnt during interrogation that the head was buried at a certain place in the same village but when they went there only sacks allegedly used to wrap the head were found.

Police exhumed the body on Monday after relatives who positively identified the witchdoctor as Maluwa Tchale, requested that he be reburied at his home village.

Kachere 33, comes from Machokora village senior chief Mabuka while Kabu 25, comes from Kampala village senior chief Chikumbu both of Mulanje.

The two will answer murder charges contrary to section 209 of the penal code.