The founder of the RMG End Time Message church, Pastor Robert Gumbura, who has 13 wives was jailed for close to half a century for raping church congregants, but who will now have his women?
This debate broke on social networking website Facebook as Gumbura was being shut away from society for the reset of his life Monday. Harare based Farirai Munetsi who started the conversation said Gumbura’s women will need serious counseling before they start new lives without the beast of fleshly pleasures-Gumbura. The discussion attracted 489 comments within an hour after being started.
Apart from the 13 known women, Gumbura used to boast that he has innumerable other concubines. It still not known how many other women there are who have been left to dry.
But other people felt justice was done. “THIS man sinned against God and was not fit to lead the congregation. He was a wolf instead of a shepherd amongst unsuspecting sheep. I am happy that the arm of the law caught up with him,” was the assessment of Blessing Kahuni.
Kahuni, along with a group of other people who said they attended the church, could not hide his displeasure with Gumbura’s behaviour, and his pleasure with the sentence.
Walking into the courtroom earlier, Gumbura had a noticeable spring in his step and a grin on his face. Seemingly calm, he nodded towards his 11 wives, apparently expecting a light sentence.
Walking into the courtroom earlier, Gumbura had a noticeable spring in his step and a grin on his face. Seemingly calm, he nodded towards his 11 wives, apparently expecting a light sentence.
Some of Gumbura’s innumerable wives – PIC – Newsday
The smug look, however, faded as regional magistrate Mr Hoseah Mujaya told him he would spend the next 40 years behind bars.
For any person, that is a long sentence. But for a 57-year-old man, that can sound like eternity.
Gumbura was led out to spend four decades at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare, and his wives made a bee-line to the carpark.
They could not escape the large, curious crowd fast enough, and their cars were soon engulfed by a multitude that wanted to ask all manner of questions. The women kept a stony silence until they were able to drive through the sea of humanity.
It was a charged atmosphere, filled with tears, joy, jeering and anger.
For Tabeth Gamanya, this was a day of both pain and closure. She was almost in tears as she narrated how her niece was given to Gumbura as a “gift”.
“I need help to go and get this child because her father is not co-operating. I heard that she is staying with a man called ‘brother’ Chuma and this pains me. She was taken away when she was 16-years-old and her relatives are not allowed to see her. The sentence was trivial considering the pain he caused to the victims. He is not fit to be someone’s husband,” she said.
Later in the day, Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Oppah Muchinguri said she was happy with the sentence.
“This will send a strong message to would-be rapists. We cannot tolerate poeple who abuse their authority and abuse women. I want to urge poverty-stricken parents not to force their children into polygamous marriages. Churches should be a safe haven for worshippers and uphold christian values,” she said.
But Women of Zimbabwe Arise national co-ordinator Ms Jenny William said the sentence was “lenient”.
“It is sad that after so many years of independence, there are still men who objectify and abuse women. Although we feel the sentence did not meet the justice of the case, we are happy that at least justice has caught up with him. No one is above the law, people should know that.
“It is sad that after so many years of independence, there are still men who objectify and abuse women. Although we feel the sentence did not meet the justice of the case, we are happy that at least justice has caught up with him. No one is above the law, people should know that.
“Gender-based violence is not negotiable. There must be much more to be done.”
Musasa Project director Ms Netty Musanhu weighed in saying: “He was a father figure who took advantage of women who looked up to him. What worries us is how a serial rapist and robber can be sentenced to 290 years while Gumbura got only 40.
Musasa Project director Ms Netty Musanhu weighed in saying: “He was a father figure who took advantage of women who looked up to him. What worries us is how a serial rapist and robber can be sentenced to 290 years while Gumbura got only 40.
“His moral blameworthiness is much higher … and the sentence should have reflected that.”
Former Women’s Affairs Deputy Minister Jessie Majome, who introduced a motion in Parliament for a mandatory sentence of 30 years for rapists, also said the sentence was “light”.
Former Women’s Affairs Deputy Minister Jessie Majome, who introduced a motion in Parliament for a mandatory sentence of 30 years for rapists, also said the sentence was “light”.
“We are happy he is behind bars but we are not happy with the sentence as it is not deterrent enough for would-be offenders.
“Rape calls for a life sentence and it is disappointing that aggravated indecent assault and robbery get more years compared to rape,” she said. herald
Church authorities started hearing rape allegations against RMG Independent End Time Message leader Pastor Robert Gumbura in the 1980s but the cases were never reported to the police, a leading cleric with Spoken Word Ministries told a Harare court during the trial.Pastor Godwin Chitsinde told the Harare Magistrates’ Court that he baptised Gumbura in 1978 after he had joined End Time Message, where he was a minister then.
He said back then he used to receive reports of Gumbura abusing girls from the church and would question him.
“Since 1988 I would get such reports. Sometimes I would call him so that he will give his side of the story and the accused would vehemently deny the allegations.
“In 1997 I also received a report to the effect that Gumbura had raped another girl from the church and surprisingly the girl was his niece. When I asked him about the allegations he only said to me: “Muzukuru mukadzi” (a niece is a wife),” he alleged.
Gumbura, who sentenced for raping seven women from his church, accused Spoken Word Ministries leader Pastor Godwin Chitsinde of conniving with the victims to fabricate rape charges against him. Gumbura said he was a victim of church politics since his split with Pastor Chitsinde’s congregation.
WITNESS PRODUCED A 12-YEAR OLD BLOOD-STAINED UNDERWEAR SHE WAS WEARING THE DAY THE PASTOR RAPED HER!…”HE RAPED ME FROM 7PM TO 11PM”…SHE ADDED
WITNESS PRODUCED A 12-YEAR OLD BLOOD-STAINED UNDERWEAR
A 29-year-old woman whose testimony had to be cut short because of time....but later allowed to continued with her testimony, narrated to the court how the man of cloth allegedly deflowered her.
The woman, who was 17 at the time of the alleged abuse, said Gumbura raped her on the basis that he wanted to test her virginity.
She produced torn, blood-stained underwear which she said she was wearing on the day in question.
“He started raping me around 7pm until around 11 pm and all this happened while I was crying for help but those who were in the house, including his second wife, Queen Bunga ignored my screams. Instead they even increased the television volume.
“He said he was not going to leave me until he broke my hymen. He said he wanted to ascertain if indeed I was a virgin adding that most girls he had slept with were in the habit of lying to him about being virgins.“After the rape, I left the room and went outside crying. The ‘sisters’ who were also staying there followed me and consoled me. They told me that the accused person was also in the habit of raping them on various occasions,” she said.
The woman told the court that she refused to sleep in Gumbura’s house that night. Gumbura and Queen Bunga allegedly accompanied her to Pastor Tawanda Nehowa’s house, saying the latter would take her to a job interview the next day.
She said on their way to Pastor Nehowa’s house, Gumbura told his wife that the victim was playing hard to get and in response Queen Bunga asked her why she was being hard on the man of the cloth.
The complainant said Gumbura raped her on several occasions and he would say; “Hazviite kuti kana watanga ngoma iyi woirega. (It’s not possible to stop once you have started.)”
She said he proposed to marry her and she turned him down.
The woman alleged that this angered Gumbura and when she got a job at a general hospital, he forced her to surrender all her earnings to him for two years as pay back for raising her.
“I could not leave his house because it was always under guard. I was also afraid to report to the police because he said that the police were under him and also that he was connected to top Government officials.
“The accused had also threatened to commit me into the hands of the devil.
“I know some of the people whom he committed to the devil and they died due to his spells, some went mad and some are now wheel chair-bound due to accidents caused by the accused person,” she alleged.
Through his lawyer Ms Rekai Maposa, who was being assisted by Mr Emmanuel Samundombe, Gumbura accused the woman of fabricating charges against him.
He said he was actually in love with the complainant and the charges were sour grapes between them since he had not bought her a house and a car like he did for his 11 wives.
“The accused will put it to you that since you had several opportunities to flee, you endured the suffering because you were cohabiting as husband and wife,” said Ms Maposa.
In response, the woman said she was brainwashed, indoctrinated and threatened by Gumbura.
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She said one would lick Gumbura’s toes, another would kiss him while he would be having sexual intercourse with the third woman at the same time.
Asked by Gumbura’s lawyer Rekai Maphosa why the three women did not overpower Gumbura and escape, she said it was impossible because the other women consented to the sex orgy.
Maphosa insisted the complainant was in a love relationship with the accused and that was why she kept going back to Gumbura’s Greendale home at the time she alleged the rape was taking place between 2005 and 2006.
She also questioned why the complainant never told her friends about the abuse. She said the complainant, a holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, was educated enough to know that the alleged abuse was wrong.
The complainant, however, said she had seen people more educated than her in the church succumbing to Gumbura’s sexual whims so she had no choice, but to submit.
The defence lawyer dismissed the woman’s assertion that she had been indoctrinated to keep whatever happened within the church as “mere fallacy”.
She said her evidence that she removed a blood-stained pad to prove she was menstruating after Gumbura had accused her of being pregnant was only possible because she had an intimate relationship with him.
Another victim testified the following:
“He got me into a dark room, lifted me and pressed me against the wall before raping me. He asked me not to say a word about the event because he would commit me in the hands of Satan and told me that he wished to see me wed in church,” she testified.
The second alleged rape happened two weeks later at a cottage at the residence of the man of the cloth.
Towards Valentine’s Day this year, after denying the girl permission to go home and get her O-Level results, Gumbura allegedly cornered her at the same cottage.
“I was menstruating and he ordered me to remove the sanitary pad and wash my private parts,” she said. “I asked him to forgive me and let me go, but he said he was punishing me for trying to reveal the offence.
“After raping me, he praised me for satisfying him sexually and said I would make a good wife.
“He then showed me a video on his mobile phone in which he featured with several women having oral sex. In February, I asked my mother to come and get me from that place. I never returned there.” Regional Magistrate Mr Hoseah Mujaya postponed the matter to Monday for continuation of the trial.
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