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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
The leader of RMG Independent End Time Message Martin Gumbura yesterday admitted to having had sex with most of his alleged rape victims, but claimed that it was by consent as he targeted increasing the number of his children from 30 to around 100.
Gumbura, who is facing charges of raping seven women from his church, was speaking in his defence after the State closed its case.
He said he wanted to increase his wives from the current 11 and his brood from 30 and that was why he had consensual sex with five of the alleged victims, including his sixth wife’s younger sister.
Gumbura, who has been a pastor for 35 years, said he was angry when he heard in court that one of the victims terminated two pregnancies because that scuttled his ambitions to increase the number of his children.
“In light of these allegations, I want to make it clear that I never raped any of these women,” he said.
“This is just a smear campaign by my enemies led by Pastor Chitsinde and Innocent Nehowa, a former pastor in my church.
“That girl who alleged that I took her to a doctor for termination of pregnancy
“I was actually in love with her for six years until she got married to another man. People in a relationship do not rape each other, but the sex would be by consent. If I raped her, why has she been quite all along?
“I don’t even know that she aborted. I have 30 children your worship and they are not enough, I actually want 100.
“She is now framing these allegations all because I reprimanded her in church together with her husband after the husband had changed ownership of his houses and cars putting them into the victim’s name leaving out his first wife.”
Gumbura said that as for his sixth wife’s young sister, they had consensual sex on several occasions.
He said marriage arrangements were at an advanced stage, but he failed to marry her since his wife (the victim’s sister) could not approve of the union.
Gumbura even produced photographs in which he was with the victim in their happier times as “boyfriend and girlfriend”.
He said one of the victims was being used by her sister whom he had “dumped” after dating her for eight years.
“I could not marry her because she was too demanding,” said Gumbura. “She expected me to give her 100 percent attention, yet I have other wives who also needed my attention.
Gumbura told the court that the victim who testified last was also his fiancée.
He said he was bitter after the woman, on whom he had spent much, eloped to another man.
“She told this court that I forced her to quit her job in Chinhoyi to come and stay with me in Harare, but these are all lies,” he said.
“She is the one who insisted on coming to Harare on the basis that she was failing to conceive because I was only having sexual intercourse with her once a week.
“She said she was coming to stay in Harare so that we could do it everyday.”
While being led by his lawyer Ms Rekai Maposa, with the assistance of Mr Emmanuel Samundombe, Gumbura said he helped many people in his church, but he was being persecuted for being a Good Samaritan.
He said he did not force the women to stay at his house, but their parents brought them.
Ms Maposa lashed out at one of the State witnesses, Detective Inspector Tapiwa Madakuchekwa, during cross-examination for taking Gumbura for indications while in handcuffs.
She said indications at his house were not done freely and voluntarily.
The magistrate, Mr Hoseah Mujaya, rolled over the matter to today for continuation of trial, while Mr Jonathan Murombedzi and Ms Kudzai Chigwedere prosecuted.
Online Reporter