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Features Correspondent
EVERY fortnight, voices of people screaming and mourning are heard in the dead of the night. Sometimes strange sounds of hyenas braying or laughing out loud and that of howling wolves are heard yet there are no such animals in the area.
Spine chilling stories of creepy occurrences are told by many living in this part of Harare though some cannot be substantiated.

Welcome to Hopley Farm B and Stoneridge, a residential area neighbouring Harare’s Granville Cemetery popularly known as Kumbudzi.

Despite the strange occurrences Hopley B remains home to many and a few share their stories.

There are good and bad nights and those like Passmore Jakarasi (31) who have experienced both speak of their experiences.

“One night I had the courage to peep through the window when I heard loud noises. It sounded like people who were fleeing a wild animal. I saw nothing,” said Jakarasi.

Jakarasi has been living at Hopley since 2010. He says these occurrences started in 2012.

“Initially I thought my niece and I were the only people who hear these weird sounds coming from the cemetery, but eventually I realised that most people were experiencing the same.”

While graveyards in many parts of Zimbabwe are normally isolated to avoid bringing death memories to the living, this community “lives” with the dead.

A few meters from the main road towards the south, small houses made of sandstone bricks and thick plastics are less than a meter apart.

The homesteads face the north.

A narrow road separates the houses from the graveyard to which tombs lie scattered and more people are still being buried.

People are scared, Mr Jakarasi said.

Because of fear of the mysterious happenings, he added, people in his area no longer have the audacity of getting out of their houses during the night.

“At night we use tins and buckets for relieving ourselves,” he added.

He said while this is unhygienic, they cannot do anything. They fear the unknown.

“No one knows what exactly will be happening outside during the night.

“We use two rooms, a kitchen and bedroom.

“I stay with my wife, son and niece. My wife and I use one tin in the bedroom while my niece and son use the other in the kitchen.”

However, these strange happenings in Hopley started occurring in 2012 and worsened this year.

Yet, the residents also seem to be interfering with the dead, maybe angering them in the process.

A small dust road frequently used by the residents is in-between graves.

The dust road is used by the residents seeking a safe water source and intending to access the main road.

But the residents defend themselves. They say they have not angered the dead.

“People have been using the road the whole of last year without any weird things happening. We just mind our business when we pass.

“But recently, there has been a trend of cases of children hallucinating.

“Some people have experienced unusual things – like something has possessed them – after using the road that cross passes the graves,” said another resident.

A mother from Stoneridge claimed her daughter once had a mental disturbance after using the road.

“On the day, she came screaming and ran towards our homestead. I noticed a change in her behaviour.

“She appeared as if she was hallucinating or possessed,” said the mother who spoke on condition of anonymity.

She added: “After a few minutes she started saying things that no one could understand.

“Her condition worsened that we ended up seeking assistance from spiritual and traditional healers. We were told that she had walked past a place with the spirits of the dead.”

The woman said her neighbour experienced the same things recently although her experience took a shorter period compared to her daughter.

Residents in the area are pleading with the local authorities to put a wall around the cemetery.

But, rumour has it that council plans to demolish their homes.

“City council people have said they will build a wall around the graveyard. “However, there are rumours that our homes could be destroyed to accommodate more graves,” said Yolanda Musoni a teenage mother from Hopley Farm.

Literally people living in the area are living in the land of the dead as their stands have not been serviced and there is a poor water and sanitation system.

“We are living in fear of losing our homes too, besides living close to the land of the dead. Losing a home is a difficult experience. We were allocated these grounds in 2009 during political campaigns. However, the stands have not been serviced since that time,” Mrs Musoni said.

She said most of the houses are so close to each other worsening the water and sanitation situation.

Most houses have blair toilets that are only two meters deep and wells that go down six meters.

When the toilets fills up, residents close the homemade septic tanks and cover it with a concrete. They move to the next available space to build another blair toilet. The situation is terrible and in the next five years some of them would have filled their grounds with septic tanks if their stands are not serviced.

Some residents said there were no graves when they started residing in the area.

The cemetery was still very far from where they stayed.

In 2011, they claimed, council officials came to peg the ground.

No one told the residents why the land was being pegged.

Within the same year, burials close to the houses began.

They finally knew their homes were within a graveyard.

The residents say it is difficult to host family functions, birthday parties, or special events where people celebrate because there could be a burial without any notice.

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