Mugabe turns to witchcraft to solve fuel crisis

DESPERATE Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe employed a witch doctor who claimed she could produce diesel from rocks in a bid to ease the nation’s crippling fuel shortages.

She was given two head of cattle, three buffaloes, money, a car and a piece of land from Mr Mugabe and other cabinet ministers, promising in return to use spells to produce the diesel outside Chinhoyi, 100km from Harare. But instead she bought refined diesel from truckers plying the route from neighbouring Zambia and piped it into the rocks.

State media said Mr Mugabe ordered Rotina Mavunga’s arrest for fraud last month — more than a year after the saga began.

“We just want the truth and to know who put her up to such things,”

Mr Mugabe was quoted as saying.

He said police were afraid to pursue her.

While most Zimbabweans are Christian, many also hold beliefs in the powers of ancestors.