A life of controversy and opulence
By Fanuel Viriri
With thinning dreadlocks on a receding hairline and a voice that never ran out of words, Benjamin Burombo shot to international fame in the early 1990s. He claimed he could cure HIV/AIDS — then a death sentence.
His credibility got a major boost when Zimbabwe’s heavyweight boxing champion Proud “Kilimanjaro” Chinembiri became his patient. Newspapers reported that Burombo was “treating” the champion. But the hype crashed on 2 July 1994 when Kilimanjaro died of an AIDS-related illness.
Despite front-page coverage and reports by international news agencies, then Minister of Health and Child Welfare Timothy Stamps publicly dismissed his claims in mid-1994. Stamps said Burombo could only treat opportunistic infections linked to HIV, not AIDS itself.
But Burombo was a master orator. He knew how to feed journalists hungry for a scoop, and the mainstream media gave him acres of newspaper space.
The Kuwadzana traditional healer made a fortune from fear. In an era before antiretrovirals reached Zimbabwe, HIV-positive patients flocked to his home for “treatment”. In that era, those who could access antiretrovirals were lucky — they got them from relatives and friends in Europe. Being diagnosed with HIV was like a death sentence. AZT was available in some European countries as early as 1987 but was very costly, costing between US$12,000 and US$20,000 for an annual supply.
Ignorance and fear were at their height back then in Zimbabwe, and hundreds of people succumbed to the disease. It was unfashionable to lose weight lest you be labelled as having the disease. The streets also came up with diagnosis for anyone with TB, using discriminatory terms such as “TB2”.
That is when Burombo and many other “healers” came into the picture. Burombo claimed he had a “cure”.
Reports at the time said prominent people sought his treatment and paid large sums. Burombo drove the latest Mercedes-Benz and moved with bodyguards.
He claimed he was born in 1960 in Mpopoma, Bulawayo, and was the son of the late trade unionist and nationalist Benjamin Burombo of Buhera. His cure was “Blend 47” — which he claimed was a cocktail of 47 traditional herbs. The formula was never independently verified by health authorities.
Burombo now lives mostly in Darwendale. He says he’s a farmer who benefited from the land reform programme.
Disclaimer: HIV/AIDS has no known cure. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the only scientifically proven treatment that suppresses the virus and allows people living with HIV to live long, healthy lives. Anyone who suspects they are HIV-positive should get tested and consult qualified medical professionals and registered health facilities.
