Mugabe bishops face lengthy jail terms for rape

Mugabe bishops face lengthy jail terms for rape

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By Staff Reporter

THREE of President Robert Mugabe's most vocal ecclesiastical supporters face long jail terms for rape.

Two of the pastors who have shielded Mugabe and his party in the face of growing poverty and political violence have been sentenced to a total of 39 years in prison, and a third faces a similar sentence if convicted.

Obadiah Msindo, head of the Destiny of Africa Network and enthusiastic donor to the Zimbabwe President and his wife faces jail after his maid claimed she had been raped FIVE times.

Msindo, who has presided over several State occasions at the Heroes Acre, has previously offered prayers for Mugabe and denounced Zimbabwe's official opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Sources told New Zimbabwe.com Monday that police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, had unsuccessfully tried to block Msindo’s arrest, but the Director of Public Prosecutions, Loice Matanda Moyo, had ordered his prosecution after pressure by women’s groups.

On Thursday last week, one of Mugabe's most visible sympathisers in the Church, pastor Lawrence Katsiru of the apostolic sect, who notoriously commanded his followers to Zanu PF gatherings, was slapped with an effective seven years in jail for raping a 13 year old girl.

Prosecutors said Katsiru took the minor for “counseling” at his farm after her parents had complained about her bad behavior.

Katsiru, the High Court heard, indicated that he wanted to take the girl to Marondera “to spiritually discipline her”, and raped her once on the way.

Another pastor, Madzibaba Nzira, who at one time announced that he had a prophecy to the effect that Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s rightful ruler, was last year slapped with a 32-year jail term for raping a woman under his sect.
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