Controversial preacher Uebert Angel, whose real name is Uebert Mudzanhire, is reportedly facing a police investigation following allegations that he hired assassins to kill a rival church leader.
According to The Standard, a report was made on April 26 at Harare Central Police Station alleging that Angel was linked to an alleged plot involving two suspected South African hitmen hired to kill Batsirai Java of the Tabernacle of Grace Church in Harare.
Angel, who is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s special envoy to the Americas and Europe and Java have been involved in a long-running rift feud.
Angel, who is the leader of the GoodNews Church (Spirit Embassy), reportedly accuses Java of extortion and blackmail.
Java was married to late opposition MP and former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s daughter Vimbai, who died following a car accident in 2019.
Batsirai Java is a brother to another Mnangagwa and ZANU PF apologist and self-proclaimed prophet Panganai “Passion” Java.
Last month, Java’s security aide Nigel Dutiro approached the police about the alleged South African assassins.
Dutiro confirmed to The Standard that he made the report under RRB number 141472. He said:
It’s true. I made a police report because there was a threat to life.
Dutiro, however, said he could not reveal more details about the report because the matter was now being handled by the police.
The alleged murder plot was exposed by a woman identified as Sharon Munro, who is said to be based in South Africa.
Munro was allegedly in Zimbabwe on March 31 where she was overhead by patrons at an upmarket bar in Borrowdale, Harare, talking about the alleged plot against Java.
She left the country on April 3 via the Robert Mugabe International Airport.
The Standard reported sources as saying the alleged murder plot was supposed to involve two South Africans only identified as Mkhwananzi and Ndimande.
The alleged hitman entered Zimbabwe through Beitbridge and were later transported as far as Harare.
The South Africans returned home without accomplishing the task after the woman allegedly linked to Angel leaked the details of the plot.
Java was last Sunday summoned by the police as part of the investigations. He said:
l am aware that someone from my church has made a report to the police, and we are waiting for investigations.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he was yet to get a briefing from Harare police where the matter was reported.
The person who picked up Munro’s phone reportedly said she had no idea what the publication was enquiring about when asked for a comment. She later posted the same questions on her WhatsApp status.
Angel did not respond to questions sent to him by The Standard two weeks ago.
Early last year, Angel was at the centre of a documentary by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit called “Gold Mafia” that exposed illicit gold trade and money laundering by powerful figures in Zimbabwe and the southern African region.
Angel was secretly recorded telling undercover journalists that he could facilitate the smuggling of gold and launder millions of cash by abusing his diplomatic privileges.
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