Gumbura jailed 40 years

Harare Bureau
RMG Independent End Time Message leader Robert Gumbura’s effective 40-year jail sentence yesterday for raping several congregants outraged a Harare man who attempted to divorce his wife at the Civil Courts after suspecting she was also abused.
Godfrey Chapata told magistrate Rekinah Dzikiti that his wife Amina Mahlatini lied that she was attending Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United Family International Church when in fact she was a member of Gumbura’s church. This was after Mahlatini sought a protection order against him.

“A close friend showed me a video clip where she was giving a testimony at RMG Independent End Time Message after she made me believe that she was attending Makandiwa’s church,” he said.

Chapata said Mahlatini once left a funeral wake with a Gumbura, a male church member and went away for five hours. But Mahlatini said she was not comfortable in the relationship since Chapata assaulted, insulted and harassed her.

“He insults me when he calls and asks me if I have stopped attending the church of prostitutes,” she said.
Dzikiti dismissed Mahlatini’s application, saying she was trying to use the court to endorse the separation.

In the Gumbura sentence, Harare regional magistrate Hoseah Mujaya warned church leaders to stick to the core business of worshipping God and not to take advantage of vulnerable women.

Gumbura (57) was on Friday convicted of four counts of rape involving three women and possessing pornographic material. Mujaya sentenced Gumbura to 50 years for the four counts of rape and four months for possession of pornographic material.

He set aside 10 years on condition of good behaviour and the four months will run concurrently with the remaining 40 years. Gumbura’s lawyer Rekayi Maposa, who was working on the matter with Emmanuel Samundombe, said in an interview that she would appeal against both conviction and sentence. In aggravation, prosecutor Jonathan Murombedzi, who was being assisted by Kudzai Chigwedere, urged the court to impose a maximum of 25 years per each count. But Mujaya said his maximum jurisdiction was 20 years per count.

He said even though Parliament recently increased the penalty provision of rape, regional magistrates had not been given the green light to impose them.

Mujaya noted that the jail term was obviously going to affect Gumbura’s family and his flock, but castigated his behaviour, saying he was a “wolf in sheep’s skin”.

He said the fact that Gumbura had fallen from being a pastor to an ordinary prisoner was another punishment.
“The court must always strive to find a punishment which will fit both the crime and the offender,” said Mujaya. “The core-business of the church is to worship God, not to sleep with girls and women and threatening them that misfortune would befall them.

“Pastors and deacons in this church must have been aware of the blasphemous teachings in their church and the abuse of women, but they chose to ignore what was happening. Teachings in church must be monitored internally and externally.”

Mujaya urged the State to ensure that women raped by Gumbura were counselled. Gumbura, who has 11 wives and 30 children, appeared stunned by the sentence, while his wives and relatives in the gallery wore long faces.

Gumbura faced nine counts of raping six women and one of possessing pornographic material, but was cleared of four counts relating to three other women for lack of evidence.