CELEBRITY prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United Family International (UFI) Church in Bulawayo is in trouble after the Messenger of Court seized some of its property over an undisclosed debt. LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI OWN CORRESPONDENT
In the event that the church fails to pay its dues today, the seized property is likely to go under the hammer tomorrow at CIPF Complex in the city.
Property attached by the Messenger of Court includes various household goods to recover a debt owed to Rosemary Hepworth.
UFI spokesperson pastor Prime Kufa said the church was only caught in a crossfire because the property belongs to someone called Ntuthuko Nyathi who is allegedly not a member of the church.
“As a church we were not aware of this, but after consultations, our pastor resident in Bulawayo said the church once rented the premises and the name was not changed after the pastor who was residing in the property left,” Kufa said.
“Soon after he left the house, it was then occupied by Nyathi who failed to settle his dues with the complainant and he was taken to court resulting in us as the church being caught in the crossfire because we did not change the name when we vacated the premises,” he said.
Makandiwa is suspected to be one of the richest people in Zimbabwe and he is currently building a multi-million dollar state-of-the-art church in Chitungwiza.
An estimated 10 000 people attend his sermons every week.
