Zimbabwean police said on Wednesday they had arrested a man who claimed to be a prophet of the Apostolic sect at a temple where believers live, and authorities also discovered 16 unregistered graves, including those of infants, and more than 250 people who had been used as cheap weapons. Children in the workforce.
Police spokesman Paul Nyathi said in a statement that 56-year-old Ishmael Chokurongerwa, a “self-proclaimed” prophet, lived about 10 miles from the farm. 34 kilometers away leads a sect with more than 1,000 members. [21 miles] The children live with other believers northwest of the capital, Harare.
He said the children were “used in various sports activities to benefit the leadership of the sect”. Of the 251 children, 246 did not have a birth certificate.
“Police determined that all school-age children did not receive formal education and were used as cheap labor to perform manual labor in the name of learning life skills,” Nyati said.
Police said they found seven babies in graves whose burial location had not been registered with authorities.
He said police raided the shrine on Tuesday. Joe Kulongwa, who calls himself Prophet Ishmael, was arrested along with seven of his aides on charges of “engaging in criminal activities including the abuse of minors.”
Nyati said more details will be released “in due course as the investigation unfolds.”
a state-run tabloid, H-MetroVideo accompanying officers during the raid showed officers in riot gear arguing with female worshipers dressed in white and wearing headscarves, who were demanding the return of children who were being put into waiting police cars. It was unclear where police took the children and some of the women who were traveling with them.
“Why are they taking our children away? We are comfortable here. We have no problems here,” one woman shouted in a video posted on the X newspaper account.
Police armed with guns, tear gas and trained police dogs “launched a spectacular raid” on the shrine, the newspaper reported. Believers describe the compound as “their Promised Land.”
An aide to Jokulongwa spoke to the newspaper.
“Our faith does not come from the Bible. We get it directly from God, who gave us the rules for how to enter heaven. God prohibited formal education because the lessons learned in these schools were contrary to His instructions,” he said, and Adding “God told us that if we send our children to school it won’t rain. Look outside it’s drought but here we are it’s raining. We have spiritual ears to hear God’s voice,” he said.
The apostolic group, which blends traditional beliefs with Pentecostal teachings, is popular in the devout southern African nation.
There are few detailed studies of the Zimbabwe Apostolic Church, but UNICEF research estimates it is the largest religious denomination, with about 2.5 million adherents in a country of 15 million. Some groups adhere to a doctrine that requires followers to avoid formal education for their children and medications and medical care for members, and instead must seek healing through prayer, holy water, and anointed stones.
However, with a strong push from governments and non-governmental organizations, some other organizations have begun allowing their members to visit hospitals and enroll children in schools in recent years.
In Kenya, police arrested Paul Mackenzie, a pastor living in coastal Kenya in April 2003, who allegedly ordered believers to be starved to death in order to see Jesus.
The country’s top prosecutor in January ordered charges of murder, torture, child abuse and other crimes against the pastor and more than 90 members of the doomsday cult that resulted in the deaths of 429 people believed to be members of the church.
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