The Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa led United Family International Church (UFIC) has agreed to pay back $700 000 to Blessing and Upenyu Mashangwa. The couple used to be major contributors to the church and paid the $700 000 as tithing. However, after leaving the church in July 2016, the couple demanded all of its contributions back.
UFIC’s lawyers agreed to pay back the money and laid out certain conditions but argued that they had no legal obligation to do so. In a letter written to the Mashangwas the conditions for the refund are as follows:
(1) that you release into the public domain all confidential information pertaining to the man of God in your possession, as you threaten in your letter to him. This is also to ensure that you are fully satisfied that neither the man of God nor the church owes you anything nor you are doing either of them a favour and also to ensure that the wrong you feel has been done to you by the prophet has been fully repaid by such exposure as you threaten.
It is the prophet’s belief that you could hold threats for the next century and in the process deprive yourself of the satisfaction that should come from releasing such information into the public domain.
(2) The church requires tithe receipts that were issued to you in order for us to verify the amounts paid.
(3) That you will be required to sign the receipt of any such refund.
The couple, on the other hand, is arguing that Makandiwa himself promised that if anyone felt they did not benefit from their contributions they are entitled to a refund. The Mashangwas argue that Makandiwa as “a man of God” should honour his word. In a letter written to UFIC by their attorneys, the couple say:
We do not agree that your client has no legal obligation. You will appreciate from our client’s letter the basis for the claim.
Your client specifically undertook to refund any person who claims all that he or she has given to the church. Your client being a person of integrity cannot surely deny what he publicly stated.
We appreciate that this undertaking might have been made without anticipation that someone as bold as our client would step up and claim all that she has given to the ministry which from the look of things is by no means insignificant.
Blessing Mashangwa has also accused Makandiwa of plotting to bring down Walter Magaya.
More: Sunday Mail