Church Leader Arrested For Fraud And Forgery
A church leader in Mbare, Harare, was arrested after he allegedly impersonated a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) official to acquire land that his church wanted to use as an extension to its allocated space.
The cleric, Kudzai Ngoni Nyamasoka (29), is also accused of associating himself with the Office of the President and Cabinet and claiming to be a ZANU PF member to intimidate congregants from another church.
As reported by NewsDay, Nyamasoka was on Thursday granted US$200 bail and ordered to appear at Mbare Magistrate Court on June 18 2024.
Prosecuting, Thomas Chanakiratold the court that Nyamasoka was a pastor at Faith Ministries International in Mbare, Harare, and was arrested for fraud and forgery.
The complainant in the matter is the City of Harare.
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It is alleged that in January 2024, Faith Ministries International got involved in a dispute over a piece of land adjacent to its church which was temporarily leased to True Believers International Ministries.
Faith Ministries International was using the land for parking before it was leased to True Believers.
However, Faith Ministries allegedly tried to acquire the same land as an extension of their church stand but failed, the court heard.
It is further alleged that after the application was turned down, Faith Ministries International, through Nyamasoka, allegedly began victimising congregants at True Believers.
The court heard that Nyamasoka engaged individuals who would purport to be from ZRP, the President’s Department and ZANU PF youth league to harass members of the other church.
In April 2024, Nyamasoka allegedly called council officials pretending to be a ZACC officer and demanded that they rescind the allocation of the stand to the rival church.
Nyamasoka allegedly created a counterfeit letter using a computer-generated letterhead. The letter warned the district officer to refrain from proceeding with the allocation, citing an ongoing investigation by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.
He was reported to the police leading to his arrest.
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