A follower of spiritual healer Godfrey
Nzira told a Harare magistrates’ court this week that the Chitungwiza church
leader broke up his marriage.
Testifying in the trial in which Nzira, the leader of the
Johanne Masowe Apostolic sect is accused of raping two of his women followers,
the man, shaking with rage, described Nzira as "a murderer, a snake and a
marriage wrecker".
"The time to fear you is over and now I don’t fear
your supernatural killing powers," the man said, his finger fixedly
pointed at a gaping Nzira.
He accused Nzira of breaking up his marriage by making
sexual advances and the resultant intimate relationship with his wife.
The man said he married his wife in church in May last
year but Nzira allegedly snatched her from him in June.
"My wife told me that Nzira approached her saying as
a father he would sort out her future marriage," the man said.
He told the court that according to Nzira, this
"sorting out" was to be intimate with her.
"Nzira threatened my wife saying her marriage would
not work and all the children she would bear would die as was happening to her
younger sister’s children."
At this point, said the man, the wife yielded to Nzira’s
sexual advances and she became intimate with him on three separate occassions.
He also told the court how he and another man, the husband
of another of Nzira’s victims, were severely assaulted by Nzira’s guards after
an altercation with Nzira at the shrine.
The man produced a picture of his injured back
photographed soon after the assault and denied responsibility for his wife’s
pregnancy.
"I would like you to find out who is responsible for
my wife’s pregnancy," he requested the court.
During cross-examination, Nzira’s lawyer Mr Wilson Manase
of Manase and Manase accused the man of teaming up with those who had
differences with his client in order to fix him by bringing up these false rape
allegations.
Mr Manase also accused the man of trying to influence his
wife to lay the false allegations but she had refused to be used.
However, the man dismissed the claim and said he had
nothing against Nzira.
The investigating officer in the case, Constable Ottilia
Jani narrated how Nzira had complicated the investigations by constantly
interfering with witnesses.
The State concluded its case after the prosecutor Mrs
Vivian Mandizvidza presented a medical report to show how one of the men had
beenseverely assaulted by Nzira’s guards.
The magistrate Mrs Betty Chidziva, deferred the trial to
February 3 when the defence is expected to open its case.