Zaoga pastor orders girls from his church to dump their boyfriends

A Bulawayo pastor from Zaoga Forward in Faith Ministries allegedly instructed girls from his church to dump their boyfriends after going confiscating their mobile phones during a service before going through their messages.

Pastor Themba Phiri, who heads the church's Emakhandeni branch left congregants shell shocked when he demanded that every female among the church's youth hand over their cellphones during the main service last Sunday.

The pastor went on to go through WhatsApp messages, photos and video gallery before rebuking them for partaking in "earthly" practices," a weekly paper reported today.

Phiri did not deny the allegations when a weekly paper canvassed him and was resolute about his stance, declaring that he is prepared to do it again as he is doing it for the girls and not for himself.

He said it is unfortunate that some of the youths were expressing discomfort in this, claiming that in the near future they will realise the benefits of his move.

"I actually feel pity for them. They rush to newspapers when in actual fact I am doing this for them. This is actually not the first time that I have done this and it certainly will not be the last.

"What I am simply saying is that we have a whole lot of girls out there that are falling pregnant because of their earthly associations. I love my children and this is all about them, not about me. I am trying to stop them from their current ways of life and it is surprising that they are not realising this," Phiri was quoted by the Sunday news today.

He claimed to have been given the green light by the girl's parents whom he said clearly understood his ways of tackling the matter. But after being cornered by the media Phiri reportedly summoned all female congregants and reprimanded them form approaching the media. Reports state that he warned those who have approached the media to "confess or risk being "cursed". He however, denied the allegation.