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Mashonaland East Bureau
Factionalism and internal conflicts reared their ugly head in the Mugodhi Apostolic Faith Church as members from two factions engaged in a nasty fight on Friday last week at the church shrine in Hwedza.
The fight allegedly left various church properties destroyed and some members of Bishop Washington Mugodhi’s security injured.
Both factions have already reported cases of violence to the police.
Allegations are that the fight emanated from the decision by a faction led by Bishop Mugodhi to bar rival members of a faction led by Bishop Aaron Munodawafa to access church properties for their annual gathering.
This did not go well with Munodawafa’s faction that manhandled the security detail of the other faction that was guarding the church premises, tied them up and proceeded to ZRP Hwedza with them.
The faction led by Bishop Munodawafa then forced entry into the church building at the shrine, and allegedly destroyed doors and window in the process.
Mashonaland East Province police spokesperson inspector Simon Chazovachiyi confirmed the incident.
“Circumstances are that on January 28, 2022 a faction in the Mugodhi Apostolic Faith Church led by Bishop Mugodhi notified the police of their intention to hold the Annual General Meeting at Chitope Shrine on February 5, 2022. On January 31, 2022, a faction in the same church led by Bishop Munodawafa also notified the police of their intention to hold their Annual General Meeting at the same shrine on February 5 and 6, 2022.”
“Both factions were allegedly advised by the police that a religious public gathering belong to classes of public gatherings that do not require approval or disapproval from a Regulatory Authority according to the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act Chapter 11:23.
“After realising that the venue they intended to use was already occupied by Bishop Mugodhi’s faction on the same dates, the faction led by Bishop Munodawafa changed the dates of their meeting to 12 and 13 February 2022. The Mugodhi faction reportedly held their meeting successfully on their proposed date and dispersed. On February 11, 2022 around 4pm, members of the Munodawafa led faction started to trickle in at Chitope shrine.”
Inspector Chazovachiyi said upon arrival at the shrine, they discovered that it was heavily guarded by security personnel affiliated to the Mugodhi faction and they sought for an alternative venue.
He said they left the shrine and proceeded to camp at Mutsine Primary School for the night.
“The following morning, they realised their gathering had increased and the Munodawafa led faction leaders decided to go back to the shrine for church services after realising that the school was now small for the crowd.
“Upon arrival at the shrine, they saw 25 security personnel guarding the premises led by one only identified as Mr Chigumo who is reportedly the acting secretary general for the Mugodhi faction.
“The Munodawafa led faction then forced their entry into the premises while others were in confrontation with the security personnel for barring them from accessing the church building.”
He said due to the large number of members of the Munodawafa led faction, the security personnel was manhandled and handcuffed by ropes from Musasa tree buck
He said the handcuffed guards were taken to Hwedza police station and were untied by police officers at the station.
“On February 12, 2022, Bishop Mugodhi reported a case of malicious damage to property and kidnapping at Hwedza police station against some members of the Munodawafa led faction.”
He said Bishop Mugodhi went on to order police officers to chase members of Munodawafa led faction away from the shrine but the police requested a court order which empowers him to bar the other faction access to the church, which Bishop Mugodhi failed to produce.
Police investigations discovered that two French double doors had their hinges removed while the door panes were broken.
They also noted that four inner office doors had been forced open by a claw bar, eight screen door locks were missing while a silver glow window had a shattered pane.
Inspector Chazovachiyi said investigations into the matter are ongoing.
Online Reporter