Mugabe refused to die on 17 October 2017

Today is 19 October 2017, and President Robert Mugabe, whom false prophet, Patrick Phillip Mugadza, 'prophesied' would die on 17 October 2017, is as fit as a fiddle and attending a World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting in Uruguay. In a futile bid to save face, Mugadza, realising that his lies were about to be exposed stupidly claimed that God had postponed the supposed death to a later unspecified date.

Prophets earn the society's respect through their works. In Zimbabwe, the title, prophet, has become synonymous with wealth and fame. The fame lies in their prophecies, which are highly sought after, especially in these times of economic challenges. They are also highly regarded for dispensing advice which is believed to bring prosperity among their followers. This is the general profile of a typical prophet who is regarded as genuine and successful in Zimbabwe.

The flip side is that the self-appointed "prophet" who seeks the people's attention through out-of-this-world stunts and incredible claims. Since being a prophet became popular a few years ago, Zimbabwe has seen a surfeit of mostly fake prophets. One such "prophet" is Mugadza.

One of the false prophets' traits is their penchant for things or people who they think will attract them fame. Realising that he was getting nowhere with his unknown church, Mugadza decided to go for President Mugabe in the vain hope of getting fame.    He hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons in December 2015, during the ZANU PF People's Conference at Victoria Falls when he was arrested for staging a one-man demonstration against President Robert Mugabe's alleged misrule.

Seven months down the line he called for a 40-day anti-Mugabe prayer which was held at the Africa Unity Square in Harare as part of his "Mugabe must go" campaign. He sat in the park daily before the prayers which were held between 1700 and 1800hours. At one point he chained himself to the metal rails around the Africa Unity Square as part of his one-man demonstration against President Mugabe.

Mugadza outdid himself in January 2017 when he told the online paper, Zimbabwe Mail that President Mugabe would die on 17 October 2017. A few days before the scheduled death day and facing an imminent embarrassment as the President exhibited no signs of ill-health and went about his duties, Mugadza issued another "word from God" this time around announcing that God had put off the President's "death" to an unspecified date.

Another "prophet" who perfectly fits the profile of a Zimbabwean phoney prophet is the controversial Talent Madungwe who has made wild claims such as possessing God's mobile phone number, wrestling and overpowering Him, as well as braaing with him. The name of his church, Exile Desire of All Nations Ministries, whatever it means, indicates a person who is trying to impress any potential follower with a sophisticated looking name. This is a desperate attempt at making up for his lack of a genuine prophetic gift by using a high sounding church name.

Madungwe recently "broke new ground" by distributing, through the Whatsapp platform, an advertisement, claiming to have added to his impressive repertoire of "qualifications" by adding medicine. "Greater than doctors," shouts the headline of the advert in which he claims to treat life-threatening diseases such as cancer and HIV/AIDS adding that he received his "medical training" in heaven.

Even those prophets, who have attained international acclaim such as the Nigerian, Temitope Balogun Joshua can also slide into the mould of false prophets when he "divined" that the United States of America's Democratic Party candidate, Hillary Clinton, would trounce her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump during the 2016 American presidential elections. Even the international mainstream media was tipping Clinton to win but the results demonstrated that, contrary to popular belief, Joshua was no different from your common village diviner after all.

Such as is the portrait of a fake prophet. Those who are convinced or are feeling the itch to follow and listen to them should do so fully aware of the tricks of these politico-religious con artists.