ABSTRACT
Ngozi is, among the Shona people of Zimbabwe, regarded as the most formidable of all known spirits. It is the most dangerous and, consequently, most feared phenomenon. However, this characterisation of the ngozi spirit appears to have evaded a good number of Zimbabweans, culminating in the perpetuation of violence with impunity. This claim is evidenced by the spate of violence that characterised post-2000 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. It is the contention of this paper that re-educating the Zimbabwean populace about the types and values of ngozi is not a vain attempt of re-living a “fossil culture”, but rather a retrieval of an important African spirituality that served as an important tool for respecting the dignity and sacredness of human life. The research findings are a result of amassing information through stories, doing rounds in the community, electronic and print media, journals and published books.
