Preacher Talent Chiwenga says he is ready for death as he prepares to return home

Controversial preacher and government critic Talent Farai Chiwenga has announced he is returning to Zimbabwe after about six years abroad.

Chiwenga, who has routinely denounced government officials and fellow preachers, said he has made peace with the possibility of arrest, persecution or even death.

In a recent televised address, he said he was ready to face whatever awaits him.

He said he wanted to correct what he sees as a false impression about why he left. His years away, he insisted, were strictly for medical treatment after severe injuries sustained in two road accidents in 2019 and 2020, not to flee persecution.

Chiwenga said he will travel via Dubai and return alone, without his children. He will publish his flight itinerary and arrival details in advance.

He said he hoped authorities would grant him one week of freedom on arrival to visit the graves of his wife and his parents, before facing any consequences.

On 12 June 2019, Chiwenga was involved in a fatal crash about 50km north of Masvingo. His vehicle overturned, killing his wife and two church leaders. He later blamed “cruel politicians” and described the incident as an assassination attempt.

A second crash followed on 13 July 2020, a head-on collision near Norton on the Harare–Bulawayo road. Chiwenga survived, but his church said it was a deliberate attack.

In October 2021, after delivering street sermons criticising the government, he said he had learned of a plot by state security agents to “neutralise” him. He left his Harare home and went into hiding, before leaving Zimbabwe later that year to seek safety and emergency medical care abroad.

Chiwenga has since apologised to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, a relative, who is among several senior government officials he has criticised over the years. *_-Pindula_*