Prophet Makomichi runs for dear life as $500 ritual exposes him

Self-styled prophet, Isaac Makomichi who now commands a huge following in Masvingo was forced to run for dear life after one of his assistants allegedly tried to plant a goblin in the bedroom of a family where the former was performing rituals in Chirumanzi on Wednesday night last week.

According to Masvingo Mirror, Makomichi had a Nissan X-trail that he was driving badly damaged as he sped through the night to escape from the fuming family.

He allegedly got lost in the fields in the darkness with his client who wanted to retrieve from him the fake goblin he said he extracted from the home in hot pursuit.

Makomichi who places weekly adverts in the widely-read Mirror announcing many miracles he performs including raising people from the dead has become a phenomenon in Masvingo.

Some women removed their clothes and walked naked in the city centre after he recently exorcised them of evil spirits.

 Trust Chembesi whose three-year-old son had fallen ill and was the reason why Makomichi visited the Chirumanzi home confirmed the incident and alleged that Makomichi tried to trick him by planting a goblin after he had paid him $450.

Makomichi confirmed the incident in a text message but denied planting a 'goblin' at the homestead.

He threatened to sue Chembesi for the damage caused to the car he was driving.
Makomichi said the allegation that he tried to plant a goblin was a false claim by those who wanted to see him fail in his mission.

Chambesi also claimed that the Nissan that Makomichi was driving did not belong to him but to a teacher who left it after he was allegedly told that he would be killed in an accident if he drove the car back home.

Makomichi confirmed that the car did not belong to the teacher but said the teacher is his relative.

Kraal head  Robert Muzembi also confirmed the incident which happened at the Chembesi homestead in Muzembi Village.

Chembesi said the incident happened when he invited Makomichi to heal his three-year-old son who had been ill for sometime but doctors could not diagnose the cause of the illness.

Makomichi asked Chembesi who The Mirror later established was a soldier to pay $500 which was $490 for exorcising the homestead and $10 for fuel from Masvingo to Chirumanzi. Chembesi told The Mirror that he made a down payment of $450 and intended to pay the remainder on completion of the mission.

 "My son has been ill for over six months and we took him to hospital where the doctors failed to establish what was wrong with him.

"I visited Makomichi last Sunday and he told me that there were goblins and evil spirits which were tormenting my son and he said he was able to solve the problem by visiting the homestead and carry out an exorcism exercise for $500," said Chembesi.

Chembesi showed The Mirror the receipt for payment which he said he got from Shadreck Rwafa who was in the company of another person only identified as Msipa.

The two are alleged to be Makomichi's secretaries. At the homestead, Makomichi is said to have asked those gathered to pray whilst facing the north side which is opposite the bedroom door. As they prayed, one of the assistants who could not be identified planted

The goblin seen by journalists was a shiny object wrapped in what looked like the skin of a python. There were nails of a bird protruding from the object and there was a tail of a goat and beads wrapped around the top part.

 "Makomichi asked us to pray facing the north and as we prayed one of his emissaries whose name we could not get planted a 'goblin' like object in the main bedroom but my brother Maxwell and I saw it and on discovering this Makomichi asked us to pray whilst circling the house as they put the 'goblin' between the mattress and base to make it look convincing, "When we returned, he lifted the bed and asked us if there was anyone brave enough to pick up the 'goblin' and my brother who had seen the goblin being planted stood up.

"Makomichi had promised that I would speak to the goblin and it would tell me why my son was being afflicted by such an illness.

"However, when he realized that his trick had been discovered, he became jittery and I demanded that he hand over the goblin which he claimed to have found in our home.

"He refused with it and insisted that he would not surrender it because it would cause harm to the people. I told him that the thing was fake and I wanted to prove that to him. He realised that people were getting impatient and ran away to his car and sped off into the night.

"I ran after the car and I caught up with him when he got lost. I jumped into his car and we fought over the goblin which I managed to retrieve from him. I wanted to get this goblin because I was so angry with the money that I spent on him that I wanted to prove that he is fake.

"This thing is fake as you can see," said Chembesi.

The matter was reported to the Police and it is set to appear before Chirumhanzu court. In a text message to The Mirror, Prophet Makomichi denied receiving money from the Chembesi family and having a secretary.

"No I do not have a secretary, ndozvakanyorwa here kuti vakandipa mari?"  asked Makomichi.

Shadreck Rwafa however, said in a telephone interview that Msipa is the church's secretary.