Makandiwa Invokes Chiwenga’s Late Wife in Bitter Row Over Chivayo’s Death

Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa has mocked Apostle Talent Chiwenga after the preacher questioned why prophets failed to foresee the helicopter crash that killed controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo.

The United Family International Church (UFIC) founder directed his remarks at Chiwenga during a recent church service, accusing him of hypocrisy for questioning the prophetic abilities of other church leaders.

Makandiwa repeatedly referred to Chiwenga as a woman and described his late wife as his “husband” in an apparent attempt to ridicule him.

“You had your husband in the car. It was you driving. Where was your God?” Makandiwa said.

The remarks referenced a June 2019 road accident near Masvingo in which Chiwenga was seriously injured while his wife and two other people travelling with him were killed.

Makandiwa also made an unsubstantiated personal allegation against Chiwenga.

“As a woman, are you not sleeping around with small boys? Are you not?” he said.

Makandiwa did not provide any evidence supporting the allegation.

Makandiwa’s attack followed criticism from Chiwenga over the response of prominent prophets to Chivayo’s death.

Chivayo, his wife Lucy Muteke and the other occupants of their helicopter died when it crashed in Marondera Rural on September 30.

Chiwenga questioned why a “true man of God” would not have foreseen the accident and warned Chivayo against travelling.

The criticism was largely directed at Makandiwa because of his close relationship with Chivayo, who had given him and his wife expensive vehicles and made a US$1 million donation towards UFIC’s church construction project.

Makandiwa had also shared dinner with Chivayo and Muteke five days before their deaths.

The relationship led to intense public debate over why Makandiwa had apparently not anticipated the tragedy.

Makandiwa had previously responded to the questions by saying that he had never claimed to possess complete knowledge of future events.

“As for the question of whether I saw the accident prophetically before time or not, as some may wonder, that to me was rendered unimportant when I stated in time past my inability to see everything,” he said in a statement issued after the crash.

“I reiterate that I have never seen everything, I don’t see everything, and I won’t see everything. Only God does.”

During the church service, Makandiwa repeated that being a prophet did not mean he could foresee every death or that his own family was immune from tragedy.

“Some of us are smart enough to know that those issues should not be touched,” he said.

“Because we know, that’s why we say we don’t see everything.

“I can lose my family at any time. But no one is ever going to question me, ‘Why didn’t you see that?’ I’ve told you I don’t see everything.”

Makandiwa questioned why Chiwenga, given his own experience of losing his wife in an accident, had chosen to criticise other prophets.

“How can it be you, of all the people?” he asked.

“How can you, of all the people? Why should it be you talking about that?”

Makandiwa ended his remarks with what appeared to be a warning that he was prepared to confront Chiwenga over the criticism.

“Some of us, we are not just prophets, we are men. We are men,” he said.

The increasingly personal exchange has intensified a wider public debate over prophecy, accountability and the relationships between Zimbabwe’s prominent church leaders and wealthy benefactors.

Chiwenga has since accused Makandiwa of crossing the line by involving his late wife in their dispute and challenged him to an open biblical debate.

The personal allegations exchanged by the two preachers have not been independently substantiated. *nehandaradio*