Businessman sues ‘false prophet’

Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court has reserved judgment in a case in which a Harare businessman is challenging a High Court ruling clearing United Family International Church (UFIC) leader Emmanuel Makandiwa and his wife, Ruth, in a $6.5m defamation suit he filed against them. Upenyu Mashangwa and his wife Blessing, both former UFIC members, claim they lost a fortune after being misled by Makandiwa’s false prophecies. This after Makandiwa in 2012 allegedly claimed that they would encounter a ‘debt cancellation miracle’ and encouraged them to continue ‘seeding’. The couple’s Harare home was later attached by a bank. New Zimbabwe reports that they further claim that the prophet recommended a ‘de-registered lawyer’ who duped them. The matter was heard by Justices Elizabeth Gwaunza, Lavender Makoni and Francis Bere.