adminMpumelelo Nyoni Chronicle Reporter
JAILED RMG End Time Message Church leader Robert Martin Gumbura is set to face fresh rape charges as more congregates from his church who are victims are opening up, a Cabinet Minister has said. Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister, Cde Oppah Muchinguri told delegates who attended the International Day for Families Commemorations in Lupane on Friday, that the government would not sit back and watch church leaders abuse women and children under the guise of religion.
She castigated religious leaders in some churches for working against their conscience and calling by failing to uphold moral values and contributing to the disintegration of families.
“There is nothing wrong with churches. The problem is with satanists that are destroying the fabric of the church. People like Gumbura are such people who have committed atrocities against women. He abused many women from his church.
“More and more cases of Gumbura’s crimes are being reported. Members of his church are also coming forward and he is going to face the full wrath of the law.”
Meanwhile, Cde Muchinguri bemoaned the increase in cases of gender-based violence within families and urged the community to unite in weeding out the vice, particularly the abuse of the girl child. She said the family institution was under threat and blamed the development on moral decadence epitomised by cohabitation, divorce, polygamy and early marriages.
The minister warned married women against delegating their duties to maids and urged parents to give wise counsel to their children instead of letting them get socialised by the media.
“Parents must also be blamed for allowing their children to be influenced by social media such as WhatsApp. You now find instances where a brother and sister watch pornography on WhatsApp. The worst part is that they practise what they see in those videos on each other. Where are the parents when all this is happening?” asked Cde Muchinguri.
She also urged mothers to be vigilant so as to protect the girl child saying every man must be seen as a potential rapist who should not to left alone with the girl child.
The International Day of families was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993 and is meant to reflect on the importance the international community attaches to families.
The commemorations provide an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.
derick.khumalo