This was one of the nuggets of wisdom that a Zambian medicine man, Ackson Lienya Masule, offered to the High Court at Grootfontein when he became the seventh State witness to testify in the Caprivi high treason trial yesterday.

The 56-year-old Masule's testimony frequently had the 120 accused men in the dock before Judge Elton Hoff roaring with laughter, and the court had to be called to order several times so that he could continue with his evidence.

That he would be an unusual - if not downright strange - type of witness was clear as soon as he had taken his place at the witness stand.

It appeared that he had one man weighing heavily on his mind, because when asked by the Judge's clerk to state his full names for the record, Masule called out: "John Samboma!" The men in the dock erupted with riotous laughter.

On a second attempt he managed to state his full names, before going on to tell the Judge of his acquaintance with Samboma.

The latter is one of the 120 suspects on trial before Judge Hoff.

Alleged to have been the commander of a separatist armed force, the Caprivi Liberation Army, his has been one of the most mentioned names in testimony that the prosecution have led over the more than 40 days that the trial has been in progress.

It was so once again yesterday, but with one crucial difference.

Like one of the previous State witnesses who had testified about one John Samboma, Masule, too, was not able to identify Samboma in the dock.

Masule told the Judge that he was a witchdoctor by profession.

He has been practicing this magical art for the past 25 years.

It was in 1999 that John Samboma, accompanied by one Andreas Mulupa and one Mutuso, approached him at his house at Imusho in Zambia and asked him to organise medicine for them.

The reason was that Samboma wanted to secede the Caprivi Region, and that he did not want them to be ruled by other people, Masule said.

They agreed that his payment from each person to be treated by him would be a shirt, a pair of trousers, and a blanket.

The purpose of that treatment was to make his patients invisible for a fight that they were to be involved in, Masule explained.

He said he gave the treatment to a group of maybe 100 people at an island called Nabumbwe in the Kwando River in Zambia.

That was about two kilometres from his home.

When the group - who were armed with a number of AK47 rifles - left the island after three weeks, he was asked to accompany them to "the country Caprivi".

There, at the village of Makanga, he continued doing his magic for another six days, before he was taken to a house in Katima Mulilo.

On his first night there, he heard shooting - that was probably the August 2 1999 attacks that armed separatists carried out at the town.

It is alleged that Makanga was a rallying point from where the people involved in the attack set off to Katima Mulilo in the days before the August 2 1999 attacks.

Masule was eager to demonstrate to the court how his treatment was done, stating it was a shame that he could not take off his shirt and trousers in order to show, clothed only in his underpants, how his night-time rituals really worked.

"Yes, I think that's not necessary," deadpanned Judge Hoff, who appeared to be as bemused by this witness's testimony as everyone else in court.

Masule explained that the treatment started with him collecting powerful medicinal roots and cooking them in a pot.

He would then put a blanket over his patient, thoroughly "steam" the patient over three pots, and then, holding the "patient" by his little finger, he would let the person pass under him between his spread legs.

He also gave other instructions to the people he treated, Masule added.

That was that they should not eat fish with bones inside, nor meat with bones, and were not allowed to have sex with a woman during the day.

Somewhere, someone did not obey him, it seems, because it appears that the invisibility spell was not the success that had been hoped for.

Masule's explanation on this score was, once again to the great amusement of the 120 men in the dock: "If he disobeyed the instructions that I gave and had sexual intercourse with a woman during the day, that's his fault."

Not only was Masule unable to identify Samboma, he could also not identify either Andreas Mulupa or Bennet Mutuso, despite approaching the dock to get a better look at the 120 accused men.

Again Masule's explanation elicited sniggers from the dock.

It has been a long time since 1999, and the people in the dock appear to gained weight, he remarked.

Just as curious as the start of his testimony had been, was Masule's exit from the court.

Having been excused by the Judge at the end of his testimony, he first clapped his hands, and then performed a shoulder-twitching, jittery little walk on his way out of court.

The men in the dock, once again howling with laughter, cheered him on.

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