Opinion / Religion
The love of money has destroyed Zimbabwe's churches and turned them into dens of thieves
13 Apr 2025 at 11:11hrs | Views
Oh God, why is my spirit disquieted?
As a devout Christian, nothing leaves me more disturbed and broken-hearted than witnessing the Church - the Body of Christ - being reduced to a grotesque shadow of what it was divinely intended to be.
What should be a sanctuary of holiness, hope, and righteousness has been hijacked by the insatiable love of money, becoming a haven for greed, hypocrisy, and unrepentant sin.
The Church in Zimbabwe, once a refuge for the weary and a beacon of moral clarity, has tragically transformed into a den of thieves.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
The scripture could not have been clearer: "The love of money is the root of all evil."
And yet, in Zimbabwe today, that love has become the defining feature of many within the Church.
I watch with disgust as those expected to be the light of the world now embody the very darkness they claim to fight against, all while masquerading as messengers of truth and righteousness.
Nothing better illustrates this bastardization of the Church than the shameless acceptance of expensive "gifts" - luxury vehicles and large sums of cash - by several church leaders and gospel musicians from the controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo.
This is a man whose name is synonymous with scandal, whose source of wealth remains shrouded in mystery, and whose past is littered with criminal convictions and court cases.
Yet, these so-called men and women of God have not only welcomed his "gifts" with open arms, but have done so with jubilant public displays of gratitude and celebration.
We all remember the infamous $5 million ZESA deal in which Chivayo was paid in advance for a $173 million solar power project in Gwanda.
That project never saw the light of day.
No panels.
No electricity.
Just silence and vanished millions.
More recently, Chivayo has been at the heart of an explosive scandal involving the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) procurement for the 2023 general elections.
South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) uncovered that of the over R1.1 billion paid by Zimbabwe's finance ministry to Johannesburg-based printing firm Ren-Form CC - handpicked without tender to supply electoral materials - more than R800 million was swiftly transferred into bank accounts belonging to Chivayo's companies, primarily Intratrek Holdings and Dolintel Trading.
The FIC flagged these transactions for potential money laundering, noting rapid fund movements, round figure transfers, and luxury purchases inconsistent with the account profiles.
Shockingly, Ren-Form retained only about R300 million of the total payment, suggesting grossly inflated pricing, likely to generate commissions for Chivayo.
Some of the diverted funds were reportedly used for personal indulgences, including car purchases worth over R36 million, raising serious concerns about corruption at the highest levels of Zimbabwe's election procurement process.
These are not rumors.
These are facts backed by credible documentation from South African investigative bodies, not just Zimbabwean opposition voices or political adversaries.
And so, I ask: why would any follower of Christ accept anything from this man?
If I, for instance, were to receive a car from a known drug dealer, would that not raise alarm bells?
Would that not cause public outrage, especially among the Christian community?
Yet, somehow, when our church leaders and gospel musicians receive luxury vehicles and stacks of U.S. dollars from someone whose life remains unapologetically murky, there is silence, or worse still, applause.
One of the most heart-wrenching moments came just last week, when gospel musician Dorcas Moyo wept tears of joy upon receiving a brand-new Toyota Fortuner and $20,000 in cash from Chivayo.
It was a moment not of divine blessing, but of public disgrace.
The optics were damning - what was meant to be an embodiment of humility and Christ-likeness instead became a showcase of materialism and moral compromise.
Is this the image and likeness of God we are called to reflect to the world?
Are we now saying that Jesus Christ - He who turned away the rich young ruler and flipped tables in the temple - would have gladly accepted "gifts" from those who were clearly trying to buy silence or legitimacy?
Let us not forget the powerful examples in scripture.
When Jesus encountered tax collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus, it was not He who bowed to their wealth.
It was they who were transformed by His holiness - Matthew leaving everything to follow Him, Zacchaeus pledging to give away half his wealth and repay any he had defrauded.
That is the power of true righteousness.
That is the nature of genuine conversion.
And that is precisely what we are not seeing in the relationship between Zimbabwe's Christian leaders and Chivayo.
The question must be asked: why are these church leaders not challenging Chivayo to repent?
Why are they not urging him to seek forgiveness and return what was unjustly gained?
Instead, we witness a disturbing silence - an eerie, compromising silence that suggests complicity or at least cowardice.
What shames me even more is that a secular musician, Jah Prayzah - who has never been known for overt expressions of Christian faith - reportedly returned the vehicles and cash he had received from Chivayo.
While I may not know his exact motives, the mere act of distancing himself from such controversial gifts speaks volumes.
It reveals a level of conscience and principle painfully absent in the very people who should be setting moral standards in the country.
It's undeniable now: some among us have become lovers of money rather than lovers of Christ.
We have dragged the name of God through the mud, tarnished the image of the Church, and turned our altars into stages for material display.
No wonder the Church is now mocked.
No wonder the world laughs at us, calling us hypocrites who shout "Jesus" in public but privately lust after the treasures of this world.
The rise of the so-called "prosperity gospel" has only made matters worse.
We have replaced the message of salvation with a message of accumulation.
In these churches, "blessing" is no longer about intimacy with God but is equated with wealth and luxury.
Success is defined not by spiritual growth but by the car one drives, the house one lives in, and the amount of money one can flaunt on social media.
Let it be known: I am not suggesting that Christians must be poor.
Far from it.
God delights in blessing His children.
But our pursuit must always be of His heart, not His hand.
The riches of God are not measured in gold or silver, but in the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Jesus was clear: "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you."
But we have reversed the order.
We now seek "all these things" first, and we only invoke the kingdom of God as a means to an end.
This is not Christianity.
This is idolatry disguised in religious clothing.
That is why we see this epidemic of greed.
That is why we now find Christians accepting "blessings" from criminals.
That is why some have even become criminals themselves - embezzling, defrauding, and lying just to appear "blessed."
It is time to bring Christ back into the Church in Zimbabwe.
While this rot is not exclusive to our country, I speak as a Zimbabwean deeply troubled by the degeneration I see around me.
We cannot preach salvation to others when our own hands are tainted.
We cannot lead others to repentance when we ourselves are drunk with corruption.
The Church must return to holiness, to truth, to integrity.
We must once again be the salt of the earth, not its poison.
Until then, we remain nothing more than a hollow echo of what we were meant to be.
©Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
As a devout Christian, nothing leaves me more disturbed and broken-hearted than witnessing the Church - the Body of Christ - being reduced to a grotesque shadow of what it was divinely intended to be.
What should be a sanctuary of holiness, hope, and righteousness has been hijacked by the insatiable love of money, becoming a haven for greed, hypocrisy, and unrepentant sin.
The Church in Zimbabwe, once a refuge for the weary and a beacon of moral clarity, has tragically transformed into a den of thieves.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
The scripture could not have been clearer: "The love of money is the root of all evil."
And yet, in Zimbabwe today, that love has become the defining feature of many within the Church.
I watch with disgust as those expected to be the light of the world now embody the very darkness they claim to fight against, all while masquerading as messengers of truth and righteousness.
Nothing better illustrates this bastardization of the Church than the shameless acceptance of expensive "gifts" - luxury vehicles and large sums of cash - by several church leaders and gospel musicians from the controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo.
This is a man whose name is synonymous with scandal, whose source of wealth remains shrouded in mystery, and whose past is littered with criminal convictions and court cases.
Yet, these so-called men and women of God have not only welcomed his "gifts" with open arms, but have done so with jubilant public displays of gratitude and celebration.
We all remember the infamous $5 million ZESA deal in which Chivayo was paid in advance for a $173 million solar power project in Gwanda.
That project never saw the light of day.
No panels.
No electricity.
Just silence and vanished millions.
More recently, Chivayo has been at the heart of an explosive scandal involving the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) procurement for the 2023 general elections.
South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) uncovered that of the over R1.1 billion paid by Zimbabwe's finance ministry to Johannesburg-based printing firm Ren-Form CC - handpicked without tender to supply electoral materials - more than R800 million was swiftly transferred into bank accounts belonging to Chivayo's companies, primarily Intratrek Holdings and Dolintel Trading.
The FIC flagged these transactions for potential money laundering, noting rapid fund movements, round figure transfers, and luxury purchases inconsistent with the account profiles.
Shockingly, Ren-Form retained only about R300 million of the total payment, suggesting grossly inflated pricing, likely to generate commissions for Chivayo.
Some of the diverted funds were reportedly used for personal indulgences, including car purchases worth over R36 million, raising serious concerns about corruption at the highest levels of Zimbabwe's election procurement process.
These are not rumors.
These are facts backed by credible documentation from South African investigative bodies, not just Zimbabwean opposition voices or political adversaries.
And so, I ask: why would any follower of Christ accept anything from this man?
If I, for instance, were to receive a car from a known drug dealer, would that not raise alarm bells?
Would that not cause public outrage, especially among the Christian community?
Yet, somehow, when our church leaders and gospel musicians receive luxury vehicles and stacks of U.S. dollars from someone whose life remains unapologetically murky, there is silence, or worse still, applause.
One of the most heart-wrenching moments came just last week, when gospel musician Dorcas Moyo wept tears of joy upon receiving a brand-new Toyota Fortuner and $20,000 in cash from Chivayo.
It was a moment not of divine blessing, but of public disgrace.
The optics were damning - what was meant to be an embodiment of humility and Christ-likeness instead became a showcase of materialism and moral compromise.
Is this the image and likeness of God we are called to reflect to the world?
Are we now saying that Jesus Christ - He who turned away the rich young ruler and flipped tables in the temple - would have gladly accepted "gifts" from those who were clearly trying to buy silence or legitimacy?
Let us not forget the powerful examples in scripture.
When Jesus encountered tax collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus, it was not He who bowed to their wealth.
It was they who were transformed by His holiness - Matthew leaving everything to follow Him, Zacchaeus pledging to give away half his wealth and repay any he had defrauded.
That is the power of true righteousness.
That is the nature of genuine conversion.
And that is precisely what we are not seeing in the relationship between Zimbabwe's Christian leaders and Chivayo.
The question must be asked: why are these church leaders not challenging Chivayo to repent?
Why are they not urging him to seek forgiveness and return what was unjustly gained?
Instead, we witness a disturbing silence - an eerie, compromising silence that suggests complicity or at least cowardice.
What shames me even more is that a secular musician, Jah Prayzah - who has never been known for overt expressions of Christian faith - reportedly returned the vehicles and cash he had received from Chivayo.
While I may not know his exact motives, the mere act of distancing himself from such controversial gifts speaks volumes.
It reveals a level of conscience and principle painfully absent in the very people who should be setting moral standards in the country.
It's undeniable now: some among us have become lovers of money rather than lovers of Christ.
We have dragged the name of God through the mud, tarnished the image of the Church, and turned our altars into stages for material display.
No wonder the Church is now mocked.
No wonder the world laughs at us, calling us hypocrites who shout "Jesus" in public but privately lust after the treasures of this world.
The rise of the so-called "prosperity gospel" has only made matters worse.
We have replaced the message of salvation with a message of accumulation.
In these churches, "blessing" is no longer about intimacy with God but is equated with wealth and luxury.
Success is defined not by spiritual growth but by the car one drives, the house one lives in, and the amount of money one can flaunt on social media.
Let it be known: I am not suggesting that Christians must be poor.
Far from it.
God delights in blessing His children.
But our pursuit must always be of His heart, not His hand.
The riches of God are not measured in gold or silver, but in the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Jesus was clear: "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you."
But we have reversed the order.
We now seek "all these things" first, and we only invoke the kingdom of God as a means to an end.
This is not Christianity.
This is idolatry disguised in religious clothing.
That is why we see this epidemic of greed.
That is why we now find Christians accepting "blessings" from criminals.
That is why some have even become criminals themselves - embezzling, defrauding, and lying just to appear "blessed."
It is time to bring Christ back into the Church in Zimbabwe.
While this rot is not exclusive to our country, I speak as a Zimbabwean deeply troubled by the degeneration I see around me.
We cannot preach salvation to others when our own hands are tainted.
We cannot lead others to repentance when we ourselves are drunk with corruption.
The Church must return to holiness, to truth, to integrity.
We must once again be the salt of the earth, not its poison.
Until then, we remain nothing more than a hollow echo of what we were meant to be.
©Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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