Tonnie Sigauke, a member of the Mugodhi Apostolic sect has approached the High Court seeking the imprisonment of the three sons of the church founder, Tandewu Mugodhi.
Sigauke who was appointed the church leader pending ruling on the leadership of the church claims that the three sons, Washington, Innocent and Enock Mugodhi are defying a court order by disrupting church business. Sigauke’s affidavit reads:
The applicant seeks an order from this court to commit the respondents to prison on the basis that they have wilfully disobeyed a valid provisional order granted in this court under case number HC 9748/19.
This application is premised on the grounds that the first respondent (Washington) with the support of the second and third respondents (Enock and Innocent) installed himself as the bishop of the applicant at the applicant’s national shrine in Wedza.
Sources privy to the power wrangle in the sect say that Tandewu, on his death bed, appointed his son Washington to be the bishop of the church but Sigauke who was Tandewu’s deputy and other members of the church approached the court and convinced it that Mugodhi had violated the church’s constitution.
Sigauke also successfully sought a court order for him to preside over the matters of the church whilst waiting for the ruling on the matter but Mugodhi’s sons will not have any of that.
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