Harare (New Ziana) -The Zimbabwe government has given all traditional medical practitioners in the country until March 31 to get registered or risk being prosecuted.
In a notice, the government, through the Traditional Medical Practitioners Council of Zimbabwe (TMPCZ) said those required to register included traditional healers, prophets, apostles and birth attendants.
Others included herbalists, spirit mediums, churches, distributors, traditional surgeries and training institutions, local and foreign traditional medical associations.
The TMPCZ said the requirement to register was stipulated in the Traditional Medical Practitioners Act, which provides that any person who practices or carries the business as a traditional medical practitioner without being registered is liable to a fine or to imprisonment or both.
“The council kindly informs Practitioners that it is a legal requirement to register with the TMPCZ in terms of the Traditional Medical Practitioners Act Chapter 27:14,” it said.
“Chapter 27:14 Part VI Section 31 stipulates that a person who practices or carries the business as a traditional medical practitioner without being registered is liable to a fine not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.” it said.
The move should come as a huge relief to members of the public who were being duped of their hard-earned money by some unscrupulous individuals who lied that they could end their economic, social and political problems.
Some of the fake traditional practitioners were also creating divisions within families after they accuse certain members of causing the problems that they were encountering.
There have been numerous cases of self-styled prophets and traditional medical practitioners raping women under the pretext of healing them.
Registration would enable members of the public who felt they had been treated unfairly or that they had been duped to report the practitioners to the TMPCZ for remedy.
New Ziana
