Will these ‘prophets’ come to the rescue?

FINANCE minister Tendai Biti on Friday challenged Spirit Embassy founder Uebert Angel Mudzanire and United Family International Church leader Emmanuel Makandiwa to “produce” over $10 billion required to liquidate government’s debt and fund national programmes.


This follows claims that Angel enables congregants to “miraculously” receive money in their pockets and bank accounts. He was reported to have done it in Botswana and Harare recently. Makandiwa is also on record as saying he can assist people to amass material wealth.

Last year there were mixed feelings coupled with a sense of national outrage following Makandiwa’s prophecy in which he claimed that an enemy or oppressor was going to die on or after Good Friday. Some people criticised Makandiwa describing his prophecy as typically provocative and unpatriotic. According to others, the prophets were spreading malicious gospels to please people.

Biti was quoted as saying: “I respect the men of God, Angel and Makandiwa, because of the miracles they are performing. But if they are printing real money, I am asking them to deposit the money in our (Treasury) account at CBZ so that we can pay some of our arrears.”

Although Biti has been roundly criticised for his challenge, he could be right after all. He is not the only one to question the existence of prophets claiming supernatural powers. Indeed, President Robert Mugabe recently wondered why the number of prophets in the country was more than all the 40 men who wrote the Holy Bible.

Could this be another manifestation of our politics going wrong? Perhaps we should encourage self-introspection on these important matters and explain why all these calamities are befalling our country.

At least somebody must explain the “miracle money”. Is it real or not? We doubt it.

For all we know, the last prophet was the one who wrote the Bible book of Revelation. How then can we have other prophets emerging when other Biblical prophecies are yet to be fulfilled? Perhaps that’s why the so-called prophecies by“our men of the cloth” are simply dealing with wealth! Nothing more! Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Zimbabweans are now wondering where all these prophecies are really coming from. When it comes to written revelations, the question of language becomes paramount. Was the revelation taken from the Lord’s dictation by the prophet? Or does it reflect the prophet’s language, reflecting the truths revealed to him by God? One could argue either case without clear resolution. Some critics have proclaimed local prophets to be false prophets because they cite what has become known as “Gospreneurship”. Could this be a sign of a false prophet?

Whether Biti, Mugabe and others are being sarcastic, this remains a matter of concern to ordinary people. The fact remains that Zimbabwe is saddled with a huge international debt, and if these men of the cloth can help — being patriotic as they claim — then let them chip in with their latest theories.

Biti says Zimbabwe has a $10,1 billion external debt and $260 million local arrears. Treasury also needs $200 million for the referendum.