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One big story to break over the past few weeks is the double murder, allegedly committed by a Bulawayo man, Rodney Tongai Jindu (26).  

He is accused of killing Mboneli Joko Ncube (30) in January and harvesting some of his body parts. A South African inyanga had hired him to undertake the gory task in exchange for $20 000 and a Toyota Quantum. Jindu is suspected to have accomplished the task but the deal went awry for him before he received the promised payment.

He appears to have lost heavily on both ends — he committed a serious offence for which he has been arrested and for a payment that will never come. It has transpired that because of his insatiable lust for instant riches he ended up allegedly killing his other friend, Cyprian Kudzurunga (28). Police sources have told us that Jindu thought that Kudzurunga, who knew that the 26-year-old allegedly killed Ncube, would, at some point, expose him for the crime.

In his muddled mind, Jindu thought it prudent to neutralise that threat by killing Kudzurunga.

It is said Jindu was advised to urinate on the shallow graves he buried his victims, an effort to “weaken” their avenging spirits.

In another recent case of suspected ritual murder, a Masvingo man killed his younger brother (12) after his “ancestors told him in a dream” to commit the murder so that he could get rich and find a beautiful girl to marry.

Ritual murders are indeed a recurring theme in our country and elsewhere on the continent, even in the so-called civilised world — Europe and America.

In East and West Africa, albinos are regular targets. Some people in that region, especially in DRC, Cameroon, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya and Malawi further south believe that body parts of an albino can make them rich instantly.  Nearly 80 Tanzanian albinos had been killed between 2000 and 2015, the UN says. Red Cross estimates that witchdoctors in that region are prepared to pay $75 000 for a complete set of albino body parts.

Therefore, the belief in murder for ritual purposes is prevalent. However, those who hold these arcane, evil beliefs forget the simple logic of hard work and the immense profit it always yields.

In addition to this commonsensical imperative of sweating for profit, the Bible exhorts us against seeking to reap where we didn’t sow, against resorting to short cuts to riches. It teaches us the goodness of hard work and its blessed, enduring profit.

Proverbs 14:23 says: “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.” The same book in Chapter 12 verse 11 says: “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.”

Apostle Paul in his letter to Ephesians 4:28 says: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

These three Bible verses as well as common sense tell us that there is absolutely no way to quick money. Anyone who thinks this is possible is simply lazy and frequently ends up in worse situations bereft of the riches they love so much. Quick fixes always end up in grief for the perpetrator. It is often jail, the death sentence and, in many cultures, avenging spirits that ruin generations.

Our people must understand this very clearly at this time in our history when the economy is underperforming and hard work appears to be not paying well enough.

Amid the economic challenges, salaries are not high enough to get the worker and his family to the next pay day. Many businesses are not doing well as well. Under the difficult circumstances, some lazy hands might be tempted to take the Jindu way to wealth. Such people must be told that doing so is a sinful, dead-end strategy they must shun.

In our issue yesterday, we quoted cultural activist, Mr Pathisa Nyathi, driving home this point very clearly. He warned that those who commit crimes of this nature actually don’t benefit from them but misery will follow them for the rest of their lives.

“This is a time when people are doing just about anything to earn quick money, committing absurd acts for the love of money,” he said.

“Many of these acts lead to arrest and a sense of guilt for the rest of the killers’ lives. People who do ritual killings are usually haunted and affected psychologically for the rest of their lives. It can never be easy to live a free life knowing you ended one’s life.”

Also, those who think that ritual killings yield money and good luck need to know that the inyanga who incite them into such devilish behaviour are nothing more than conmen out to make money out of their greed for instant wealth.