Ankolo a Ndevu’s sweet bedroom adventures

In pursuit of sexual gratification amid waning libido and fear of failure in the bedroom, aphrodisiacs seem to emancipate users while offering a lucrative business venture for others.

Philip M’manga, 30, alias Ankolo a Ndevu testifies to both.

The Blantyre-based aphrodisiacs merchant sells a treasure trove of aphrodisiacs dubbed ‘sweet man’ and ‘sweet woman’, satisfying his customers while earning daily income.

The tall, slim, dark and soft-spoken dreadlocked trader sells over 12 35-gramme packs of the aphrodisiacs in a week, with most of his customers being university students.

In an interview with Nation on Sunday, M’manga said he mainly sells the aphrodisiacs from his Chemusa residence and makes deliveries anywhere.

He said: “Due to their proven effectiveness, people from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ireland buy them.”

M’manga also said most of his customers are aged 32 and above, with women as the leading buyers.

He said his product, a mixture of herbs, including nkhondo ku bed and mamuna sakalamba, also cure some ailments.

“What I sell holds secrets to a happy and more passionate life,” he said.

Meanwhile, to boost his customer base, M’manga is launching a website.

He said the pursuit for pleasure is what drives people to make several purchases weekly, with some using them to cleanse the body.

Minutes after our interview with M’manga, a student from one of the local colleges arrived to buy the products.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said she relies on the aphrodisiacs to rekindle the spark in her relationship.

“I want my man to always feel good with me and not seek sex elsewhere,” she said.

But the student said she may have gone overboard in using the aphrodisiacs and feels she has lost her dignity.

But for Innocent Banda, a secondary school teacher from Zomba City, using aphrodisiacs is normal.

He has been using them since he got married in 2015.

“They spice up my sex life,” he said.

Similarly, Shakira Wyson, a sex worker who trades at the popular Stereo Night Club in Blantyre, told Nation on Sunday that the aphrodisiacs widen her customer base.

“Most men leave their wives and come here because they feel sweet. Never underestimate aphrodisiacs,” said the secondary school dropout.

Wyson, whom we met on Friday evening at the entertainment joint, said she gives her customers a wide range of aphrodisiacs to choose from.

However, the proliferation and use of the aphrodisiacs have commodified intimacy, reducing natural love to a chemical reaction.

Apart from local aphrodisiacs, others are sold in pharmacies and shops.

Unfortunately, some users have died during sex after taking the aphrodisiacs, according to police reports.

Medical Council of Malawi registrar and chief executive officer Dr. Davie Zolowere on Thursday referred Nation on Sunday to the Pharmacy Medicines Regulatory Authority (PMRA) when asked if there are regulations on aphrodisiacs proliferation.

PMRA spokesperson Joseph Josiah had not responded to our questionnaire by the time we went to press.

A recent study on use of aphrodisiacs was published in 2015 in the International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology.

It established that 65 percent of teenagers and adolescents use traditional herbal aphrodisiacs with most of them introduced by friends.

The study, which was carried out in villages under Traditional Authority Kuntaja in Blantyre, involved 212 teenagers and adolescents.

It was conducted by Kamuzu University of Health Sciences lecturers Fanuel Lampiao, Stanford Miyango and Harry Simkoza.

It was established through the study that the teenagers and adolescents using the aphrodisiacs were getting them from an inexperienced traditional healer, as such, recommended the need for youths to be sensitised on proper ways as regards to using them