Why do we witness so many self-styled prophets embroiled in endless scandals?

Tendai Ruben Mbofana

When growing up, a popular saying echoed in our communities: if you want to make quick money in Zimbabwe, you either join politics or establish a church.

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For a long time, many treated this phrase as mere humor or harmless satire.

Yet today, this cynical adage has manifested as an undeniable truth across our society.

We live in an era where self-styled “prophets” and religious leaders are constantly embroiled in endless scandals.

The continuous cycle of jaw-dropping exposés has left citizens questioning themselves.

Why are those who claim to speak for God so frequently caught in the web of deceit, financial crimes, and moral decay?

The evidence is overwhelming and impossible to ignore.

Recently self-styled “prophet” Uebert Angel found himself at the center of yet another undercover Al Jazeera investigation.

This time, the expose linked him in the United Kingdom to paid schemes to stage fake political demonstrations to create an illusion of foreign support for the Zimbabwean ruling establishment.

This came on the heels of his controversial role in Al Jazeera’s explosive Gold Mafia documentary, where he was recorded offering to use his official diplomatic status to launder massive sums of dirty cash through illicit gold deals.

Instead of serving as a moral light, Angel leveraged his spiritual posture to gain high-level political appointments and orchestrate shady international dealings.

Angel is hardly an isolated case.

In Harare, another self-proclaimed “prophet,” Emmanuel Makandiwa, made headlines after receiving one million dollars in cash from the late controversial, scandal-riddled tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivayo.

Alongside this cash, he and his wife also received a fleet of luxury vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

Similarly, Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi of the Zion Christian Church has repeatedly received millions of dollars in cash gifts and luxury cars from the same political insider and convicted fraudster.

Meanwhile, figures like Walter Magaya face persistent accusations ranging from the fraudulent sale of land that was never theirs to sell, to severe allegations of sexually abusing congregants.

The list of examples is endless.

The question that confronts our collective conscience is simple: why do we find so many prominent church leaders perpetually involved in such disgraceful activities?

The answer is as stark as it is painful.

The modern church has been deliberately converted into an unbridled money-making enterprise.

Most of these organizations were never founded with the genuine aim of spreading the Gospel, seeking truth, or making disciples of all nations, as Jesus Christ commanded.

Instead, they were established to enrich their founders and satisfy an insatiable appetite for power and material excess.

To achieve this end, these self-appointed spiritual leaders will do anything to deceive their vulnerable followers.

They concoct manufactured prophecies, perform staged miracles, and sell useless “anointed” oils, wristbands, and water to desperate people seeking relief from economic hardship.

They manipulate faith into a commercial commodity, extracting the last hard-earned pennies from impoverished congregants under the guise of “sowing seeds” for divine breakthroughs.

When a movement is built entirely on greed, its natural trajectory is crime and corruption.

It is not surprising at all to watch these supposed spiritual giants engaged in money laundering, gold smuggling, and illicit financial schemes.

Nor is it shocking when they turn their pulpits into partisan political platforms, offering religious endorsements to an oppressive ruling elite in exchange for diplomatic immunity, land grants, and cash gifts.

They have no moral boundary because their foundational purpose was never spiritual integrity.

These individuals are not fallen saints who simply lost their way along the journey.

It all boils down to one critical reality: these wolves in sheep’s clothing were never authentic men of God in the first place.

They are imposters, charlatans, and opportunists who weaponize scripture for personal enrichment.

They are lovers of money, an affliction that biblical wisdom rightly identifies as the root of all evil.

They sell their conscience for luxury vehicles, political protection, and offshore bank accounts while their followers suffer in poverty.

If anything, I will paraphrase the words of Jesus Christ.

It would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for these false prophets to enter the kingdom of God.

• *Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or *

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