Prophet Makandiwa predicted Zambia's xenophobia

Popular Zimbabwean preacher, Emmanuel Makandiwa prophesied about the xenophobic violence that recently rocked the Zambian capital, Lusaka, according to a video posted on YouTube.

The video, which shows Makandiwa predicting the disturbances on April 9, exactly nine days before they began, has gone viral on social media platforms.

In the video which shows the United Family International Church (UFIC) leader speaking to local and international visitors at the church's Life Haven base in Mt Hampden, the charismatic preacher called on the gathering, which had a sizeable number of Zambian nationals, to pray for the nation of Zambia in order to avert events "previously unheard of in Zambia".

He said:  "I saw two secret meetings taking place and I was able to "attend" the meetings. And I saw people gathering to formulate a terrorist group... and I am seeing a protest rising up against foreigners...is it (the issue) about foreigners, is it a nationality thing or it's an in-house thing," he says, in what appears to be an apparent reference to the underlying cause of the disturbances.

Zambia, which was recently voted as the most peaceful nation in Africa, was rocked by violent protests aimed at Rwandan nationals believed to have been behind a spate of ritual murders in Lusaka and the government had to quickly move in to quell the disturbances which could have easily escalated into bloodshed.

Xenophobic violence has no history in independent Zambia and the recent events took many by surprise, including the Zambian president, Edgar Lungu who described it as a shame.

Two days after the prophecy, Zambian newspapers were lauding the prevailing peace in the country, in what some analysts have seen as an effort to dismiss Makandiwa's prediction.

Makandiwa's spokesperson,  Prime Kufa confirmed the prophecy and said: "They may have felt the need to give their nation such assurances seeing that Prophet Makandiwa has become a voice to the nations which cannot just be ignored and that his prophecy would have been taken seriously by their nationals.

"Some of the Zambians who heard of the prophecy were in polite dismissal saying though they believed in the accuracy and timeous fulfilment of Prophet Makandiwa's prophecies, Zambia was an exception when it comes to violence.

"This thing might not move a lot of Zimbabweans but the Zambian nationals who knew of the prophecy before it's fulfilment are in awe. Many have been calling our offices and some sending texts to express their gratitude to the Prophet of God for having called for such a prayer, without which, worse things could have happened. Most of us could never have imagined that such a thing could ever happen in Zambia."

Kufa said on the same day, Makandiwa gave another prophecy on the need to pray for the aversion of a British Airways plane disaster at Heathrow Airport and a few days later, a drone collided with a BA plane on approach to the airport.

"We have to thank God for such a man. When he accurately prophesied that gold production levels would rise, it was inconceivable amidst the closure of the big gold mines that was taking place but ever since, gold production has been on a high and even recently our president acknowledged it," Kufa added.

"The Zambia prophecy comes soon after Prophet Makandiwa gave another prophecy on South African deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa which was fulfilled to exact detail.

"Prophet Makandiwa has become an international voice over the years, giving accurate prophecies over nations and many of his former critics have accepted that love him or loathe him, he surely has a prophetic eye and is a man whose voice cannot be ignored," said Kufa.