Sorcery not source of oil, officials learn

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Some Zimbabwean officials are disappointed to learn it is not possible to produce refined diesel fuel by striking a rock with a stick, a report says.

Nomatter Tagarira, 35, uncovered an abandoned fuel tanker and rigged it with pipes. An assistant would open the spigot after Tagarira struck a rock with a stick, releasing the fuel.

Tagarira told Cabinet officials she could produce enough oil to meet Zimbabwe’s fuel consumption for the next 100 years, The Times reports in London.

After an official government examination declared Tagarira’s claims were legitimate, they awarded her with a monetary gift -- about $17,000 -- a 24-hour armed security detail, a farm and other services.

A second ministerial examination concluded that Tagarira was full of more than just diesel and arrested her on fraud charges.

“It is not the woman who ought to be arrested, it is the idiots who authorized this criminal waste of public money,” a lawyer familiar with the case said.