Pastor Walter Masocha

Ministry Background

Agape church grew from very humble beginnings in Masocha's house. It had grown to be an international organisation with branches in other countries such as Canada, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.^[4] Acoording to Masocha, he started out as a part-time preacher with Forward With Faith International Ministry before he received a divine visitation asking him to to set up his own church and call it Agape.

Sexual Abuse Arrest In 2014 and 2015 Conviction

In 2014 Masocha was arrested on charges of abusing two of his female followers. One of the victims was Jean Gasho a prominent internet blogger also in the UK, who is a former deaconess of the church. The other was a girl aged 15. Gasho who brought the matter to light testified in a Flakirk Sherrif Court saying Masocha had groped her after private parts claiming he was praying for her to recover from a stomach complaint. She also told the court that in 2012 Masocha hugged her very intimately and caressed her back while kissing her neck. Gasho was married at the time and had four children. Gasho left the church and her marriage and blogged about her experiences.^[5]

Masocha pleaded not guilty to the sexually assaulting a woman at the Church of Agape and engaging in sexual activity towards a schoolgirl at its base at Sauchieburn, Stirling. However, he was found guilty by a jury of 7 men and 7 women in April 2015 and he was sentenced in May 2015 to 250 hours community service. Many people voiced their concerns against claiming the sentence did not do justice to the gravity of the offenses committed by Masocha.^[6]

Appeal

Following the conviction, Masocha's lawyers challenged the conviction and in February 2016, Scotland's senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, said convictions against Walter Masocha would be quashed saying there had been alleged misdirection at his trial on a point over prior inconsistent statements.^[7]

Suspension from his church after second sexual scandal

In December 2018, his church released a statement of suspending him. The church's suspension message on its website read:

Following recent development in which the Visionary, Dr Walter Masocha, with his own volition admitted that in his private life, he had a moral fall; he has been suspended with immediate effect as leader of the church Agape For All Nations Ministries International (AFANMI/Agape). The Vision of AFANMI whose goal is to find the lost and equip the found, continues under the leadership of the Commissioners. A full investigation will be conducted and appropriate action taken for the reputational damage to his wife Dr Judith and the wider community of believers especially in Agape. In the current state of affairs, we have a duty of care to offer spiritual, moral and emotional support to the wider member of the church who are affected, Dr Judith & family and also to Dr Walter Masocha.^[1]

A blog post by a former alleged victim of Masocha revealed that Masocha had confessed to having sexual relations with his own married daughter. Said Gasho:

I Mary-Tamar was Jean Gasho, can reveal today on Christmas day 2018 that ‘Prophet’ Walter Masocha has stepped down as leader of Agape For All Nations Ministries International after he allegedly confessed to having sex with his married daughter.

This comes after the daughter’s husband is reported to have found explicit messages and nude pictures that his wife had been allegedly sending to her own father Walter Masocha. The husband is reported to have taken his wife’s phone with all the evidence to her mother Judith Masocha, who confronted her husband ‘the prophet’, and he admitted to sleeping with their married daughter. Judith is reported to be divorcing Walter Masocha after the shameful revelations which have left the Agape members in shock and disbelief.^[2]

References