Church leaders urged to stop misleading people

THE Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe president Archbishop Johannes Ndanga has said they are going to take serious measures to deal with corrupt church leaders and their churches.

Speaking at the ordination of archbishop Livious Simon Ndlovu at Phelandaba Stadium in Gwanda on Saturday, Ndanga said their mandate was to ensure all churches were known by the government and monitor their operations because bad things were now happening in most churches.

Ndanga said RMG Independent End Time Message church was recently banned as the church leader Robert Martin Gumbura led people astray and also sexually abused female street kids in the name of helping them.

Gumbura turned them into his sex slaves and even slept with married women from his congregation.

Gumbura is on remand for rape charges and for being found in possession of p*rnographic material.

He also added that in Harare's Budiriro suburb, a certain prophet had stopped a number of children from going to school and even stopped some people from going to work saying the world was coming to an end.

"We have been given authority by the Cabinet to monitor the churches and their operations, so I urge you all bishops and priests to do right and stop misleading people and please Archbishop Ndlovu, be an exemplary leader by doing good," Ndanga said.

"The problems that are faced in politics are the same problems faced at churches because those people causing them in the political field are the same people who started them in churches.

"The church is there to calm the nation down, so it is the bishops and priests' mandate to pray for the nation and assist leaders in solving every situation faced by the country so as to maintain peace in the country," Ndanga said.

Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs minister Abedinico Ncube encouraged the apostolic churches to go on with their mandate of preaching the Word for the sake of peace in the country.

"Archbishop Ndlovu, you have been given the duty to preach the Word to us leaders of this country so that we have peace in our country and love each other," Ncube said.

"I would like to urge all the members of apostolic churches and Zionist sects to go on preaching their gospel and also pray for lost people like MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to come back to his senses and unite with us," Ncube said.

He said it was their obligation as Zanu PF to promote peace and encourage the people of Zimbabwe to unite.

"All those bishops, priests and deacons in some churches who disrespect and criticise (President Robert) Mugabe should stop going to church because I see no reason of them going to church as they are the ones who mislead people.

"Let's also support our government and work together because the country is ours and also pray for our president (Mugabe) and we as followers should not offload all the duties to the bishops and priests, but should also help where we can and with our support all will be well," he added.

Gwanda mayor Knowledge Ndlovu said the local authority would do what it could to help the church.

"We also want to assist the church," Ndlovu said.

"The Sabbath Apostolic church said that they still have no headquarters since the church was founded, so we want to be part of history and we thank the new Constitution from the government that all churches should be known in the country and given an opportunity to fulfil their mandate," Ndlovu said.