Zimbabwe Wives Try ‘Love Potions’ to Cure Mates’ Roving Eyes

Jairos Matema quickly downed his dinner and prepared for his customary night on the town with the boys. He never made it.

Several hours later he woke in a hospital wondering what had put him there. All he could remember was a severe bellyache.

Jairos didn’t know it, but he was the latest victim in a wave of protest by Zimbabwean women over the wandering eyes and habits of their husbands or lovers.

A Temporary Paralysis

His bellyache and temporary paralysis resulted from an unhealthy dose of “love potion.”

Delving into tradition, increasing numbers of Zimbabwean women are resorting to tribal concoctions the nangas , or traditional medicine men, assert will keep their men faithful and at home.

Liberal doses of muti (medicine) spike the man’s favorite meals in the belief that it will turn his head and thoughts away from the pretty girl down the block.

ZINATHA, the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Assn., is becoming worried about the trend toward “do-it-yourself” love potions containing ingredients that might blanch even an adventurous apothecary.

Wide Range of Ingredients

The least obnoxious potions, say ZINATHA members and staff at the National Botanical gardens, are made from plants, leaves, roots and tree bark. But they say wayward husbands and lovers also may be be served “sauces” made from human blood, dog’s brains, lizard tails and even the baby’s bath water, which is thought to make a man love his wife as much as he does his children.

Amateurs are giving the association’s members a bad name, complains ZINATHA president Gordon Cavunduka.

He said one reason for the unwelcome trend was that new laws improving the status of women were not working fast enough for them in the face of traditional Zimbabwean male chauvinistic attitudes.

Social workers report an increase in marriage breakdowns since Zimbabwe became independent six years ago. They pinpoint a steep rise in drinking and alcoholism among the country’s increasingly affluent male population.

Jairos is back home now and, although he has gained some understanding about his wife’s fears, he also has some new suspicions about what’s on the menu.