Talent Chiwenga

Talent Chiwenga
Talent Chiwenga
Born	Talent Farai Chiwenga
Occupation	Apostole
Organization	Apostole T Chiwenga Ministries

'Apostle' Talent Farai Chiwenga is a prominent Harare preacher and founder of Apostle T.F Chiwenga Ministries. Chiwenga is mostly known for criticizing politicians and other religious leaders during his sermons. He has criticized politicians President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Constantino Chiwenga and MDC President Nelson Chamisa. Religious leaders he has criticised include Ezekiel Guti, Emmanuel Makandiwa and Walter Magaya.

He is related to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga through their fathers who were brothers.

In June 2019, Chiwenga was involved in a road traffic accident outside Masvingo while returning from South Africa. The accident killed his wife, Regina Chiwenga, and two other leaders at his church. He sustained injuries and had to be operated upon. Chiwenga was driving the vehicle when they were involved in the accident. In a video, he released from the hospital a few days later, Chiwenga claimed that it was an assassination attempt and implied politicians had tried to kill him.^[1]

Clashing with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga in 2018

In September 2018 Talent Chiwengae said at a church sermon that he saw “two coffins; coffins that will bring this country to a standstill”, an apparent reference to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga who had been taken ill at that time, and someone else.

ZIMBABWE PROPHECY: 16 Sep 2018 Apostle Chiwenga I'm seeing 2 coffins

In October 2018 following the 'prophesy', Vice President Constantino warned that Talent Chiwenga to stop his kind of preaching and accused him of using the name of God to extort money from followers. The Vice President was speaking to church members gather at his home where they had come to pray for him:

“There are others who are now calling themselves prophets. Aripo uyo anonzi ani, Talent. That should come to an end today. Zvatoperera pano. We don’t have that culture where one moves around attacking leaders under the guise of preaching the word of God. God does not say move around attacking other people. We want people to go to church and pray to God. This habit of using the name of the church to extort money is not good. How can you say that on the one hand you are practicing satanism and on the other you say you are a prophet, what kind of a prophecy is that? It’s not good and we don’t want that."^[2]

In response, Talent Chiwenga said a few days later that VP Chiwenga was unsuitable for office and said that he stood by his 'prophecy'. he also said he was prepared to die for what he had said^[3]

Talent Chiwenga later revealed that Vice President Chiwenga is his cousin and that days earlier he had been interrogated by State security agents at his rural homestead in Hwedza. He said he was interrogated over a video in which he is alleged to have said the former Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) general is not fit to lead Zimbabwe. Talent Chiwenga said the Chiwenga family had resolved to discuss the video which had angered President Mnangagwa’s Deputy and resolve the issue.

Apostle T F Chiwenga's Statement On Vice President C.G Chiwenga's Utterances

Vehicle Accident in June 2019

In June 2019, while traveling from South Africa with his wife and other church leaders, Chiwenga was involved in an accident that killed. The accident killed his wife and two other church members. Chiwenga sustained injuries and was helped by wellwishers to get to a hospital in Masvingo. Chiwenga released a video while in hospital blaming assassins for the accident and implying that it was politically motivated. His release of the video on social media attracted criticism with some saying it would have been better for him to focus on receiving treatment and mourning his wife.

Some prominent individuals on social media such as NPF spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire also disputed Chiwenga's version of the events, implying the religious leader was lying.

His wife was buried days later in Harare but he could not attend the burial because he was still in the hospital.

Chiwenga in Hospital speaking about his June 2019 accident

Going Into Hiding

In October 2021, Talent Chiwenga reportedly fled his Harare home because suspected state security agents were allegedly trailing him.

Human Rights Watch's Southern African director Dewa Mavhinga, who said he had spoken to Chiwenga from his hideout, raised the alarm in a statement on Saturday 24 October 2021.

"(On Friday), Apostle Chiwenga told me by phone that he believes the Zimbabwean authorities have dispatched a team of state agents known as the ‘Ferret team’ to kill him for his activism following several failed attempts over the last two years. Apostle Chiwenga has regularly used street sermons in Harare and social media platforms to openly rebuke Zimbabwe’s government for its gross human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, abductions, and torture of activists, rights defenders, and journalists. The Zimbabwean authorities should take steps to ensure the security and protection of Apostle Chiwenga and other critics of the government. Human rights advocates like Chiwenga should not live in fear for exercising their fundamental rights to free speech. Four confidential sources in the security sector separately told me last week that the authorities are unhappy with Chiwenga and view him as a security threat that should be “neutralised. Three security officers described the ongoing surveillance of Chiwenga’s Harare church and home by people in unmarked vehicles."

Chiwenga told The Standard that he was hiding out of Zimbabwe.^[4]