Staff Reporter

Hundreds of thousands of Zion Christian Church (ZCC) members relived their founding father, Samuel Mutendi's, prophecy on President Emmerson Mnangagwa at Defe Dopota in Gokwe yesterday.

In 1964, President Mnangagwa and his crocodile gang were camped in the mountains north of now-Nyika Growth Point as they watched ZCC members working the fields. They awaited their journey home so that they could share a meal with them. The mission was a success, but as soon as they finished eating, ZCC founding father Samuel Mutendi called President Mnangagwa and his friend out of the crowds.

President Mnangagwa recalled that "I thought we were in trouble for hijacking a meal, but Mutendi placed his walking stick on my knees and said, In a race, only one emerges the victor’.  He added that back then he never understood what the words meant, but now his eyes and ears have the spiritual blessings to appreciate the hidden message. President Mnangagwa also revealed that his mate, with whom he had visited the Mutendi homestead, never made it into independent Zimbabwe.

President Mnangagwa added that he felt at home amongst the Zions as he told yet another story where his mother had to shy away from fetching water at the well because her peers made fun of her because of his choice to join the liberation struggle. He said they would talk about their children’s professions, and all my mother would say was, 'My son is training to kill people.’ " However, I am happy she saw independent Zimbabwe and that I was now leading the teacher and nurse children of those women who made her uncomfortable."

The leader of ZCC, Nehemiah Mutendi, son of Samuel, urged his members to seek God’s council whenever they wanted to make a decision, even on whom to vote on August 23, 2023. He added that his father always consulted the holy scriptures. Mutendi, however, emphasised that ‘it was not over until it was indeed over, making reference to the political and economic revolution in Zimbabwe. He thundered, Allow them to complete the economic turnaround and the development, referring to the Second Republic.

ZCC policies dovetail with a plethora of the government’s visions as the church built universities, fisheries, and clinics for the betterment of the people’s livelihoods and the eradication of poverty.