Zimbabwe 'Cash for Mermaids' Con
Report; Posted on: 2006-03-24 15:22:21

Mermaids would have found stolen vehicle

BBC News

A fake Zimbabwean traditional healer has been found guilty of conning a businesswoman out of $30,000 to pay for "mermaids" to recover her stolen car.

The money was to have been used to import them from the UK, she claimed, and accommodate them in a local hotel. Some of the money was to have been used to pay for a bull, whose genitals would supposedly help find the thief of her luxury vehicle.

Belief in animism is widespread in Zimbabwe, and across Africa. There is a national association of traditional healers but the court found that Edina Chizema was not registered.

She had denied the charges of theft by false pretences but magistrate Sandra Nhau said she was not a credible witness.

Full article

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4829020.stm

Source: BBC

http://nationalvanguard.org/story.php?id=8384