By Paidashe Mandivengerei

RADIO and television personality and self styled ‘prophet’ Oscar Pambuka has sensationally claimed mbanje (cannabis) smoking is not a “sin”.

The veteran broadcaster-turned ‘prophet’ was speaking in an interview with a local radio station.

Pambuka, who has had his fair share of scandals, allegedly took marijuana in the high density suburb of Mbare.

“Mbanje is not such a bad thing because the word of God says what you consume is not bad whether you drink frozen juice (commonly referred to as freezit) or Amarula (wine) and what not but what you will do after is what concerns the Lord.

“Whether it’s pork, mutton, it doesn’t matter because they were all created by God,” he said in response to a caller who had asked for his stance on mbanje consumption.

Last week, Pambuka announced he was “now a prophet” and was forming a church, drawing mixed reactions from his followers on Facebook.

He went on to dismiss claims that he was in the habit of consuming the drug and pointed out that whatever bad decisions he had made before were left in his ‘past life’.

“I have never consumed mbanje ever since I was born. These are just accusations. That is stereotyping because when you hear about Mbare, you think of bad things,” Pambuka retorted.

Pambuka, a member of Walter Magaya’s Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries, had his inaugural church service at his Oscar Pambuka Ministries in Houghton Park, Harare last Sunday.

He dismissed negative comments coming from some people who thought he was being blasphemous.

The former ZBC news anchor claimed he had received his calling while taking a bath and was now as good as “any other Man of God”.

Pambuka has had a brush with the law over a shady deal, a company he jointly owns with former Zanu PF MP, Psychology Maziwisa had with State power supplier Zesa.