Village head dies at lover’s house

Zim Now Writer

Villagers in Chief Chitanga area, Mwenezi, were left tongue-tied after a village head, Tembani Chitanga died at his alleged lover’s house, sparking controversy in the area.

The incident, which occurred on Saturday night (April 14, 2024) is said to have happened when the village head who was reportedly coming from a beer binge at Lundi Business Centre decided to pass through his girlfriend’s place on his way home where he met his unfortunate demise.

Chief Chitanga, born Feleni Chauke, confirmed the village head’s death but refused to shed more light on the circumstances as he insisted the matter was now being handled by the responsible authorities.

“I can confirm that indeed Village head Chitanga died but I am not at liberty to comment further about his death as the matter is currently with the police, otherwise I end up derailing investigations if I rush to comment further,” said Chief Chitanga.

Masvingo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa, told TellZim that investigations were currently underway to establish circumstances around the traditional leader’s death.

“I can confirm we received a report where a 42-year-old man from Chitanga village was pronounced dead upon arrival at Neshuro Hospital and investigations are currently underway,” said Dehwa.

Circumstances are that Tembani Chitanga, 42, arrived at his alleged girlfriend Lucia Madhaki, 42,’s homestead around 2200hrs and they had a misunderstanding after which Tembani became violent, leading Madhaki having to flee from her homestead to seek refuge at a neighbour’s place.

An irate Tembani broke the Madhaki’s bedroom window using his fist, seriously injuring his hand in the process.

When Madhaki came back with neighbours, they found Tembani lying in a pool of blood, called for help and rushed him to a local clinic where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Other sources close to the matter had another version of the story, claiming that after the beer binge at Lundi Business Centre, the village head had tried to forcefully enter his alleged girlfriend’s house after suspecting the presence of another man inside.

“The story is like a movie script. The village head must have tried to forcefully enter the girlfriend’s place because she had refused to open the door for him.

“He was reportedly cut by the fragments of the window pane and bled until he became unconscious, or probably dead due to excessive bleeding,” said the source.

Although many locals suspect that there could be foul play on the controversial circumstances surrounding the incident, the alleged girlfriend who is said to be a key witness in the matter is allegedly maintaining that the village head succumbed to excessive bleeding sustained after he broke the window pane using his hand.

The village head was buried on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.