Fraudster church leader arrested

The former was using the land for parking before it was leased to True Believers, the court heard.

A CHURCH leader in Mbare is in soup after he allegedly impersonated a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) official to acquire land which his church wanted to use as an extension to its allocated space in the populous suburb.

Kudzai Ngoni Nyamasoka (29), who was also accused of associating himself with the Office of the President and Cabinet and claiming to be a member of the ruling Zanu PF was granted US$200 bail and ordered to appear at Mbare Magistrate Court on June 18 this year.

Prosecutor Thomas Chanakira yesterday told the court that Nyamasoka was a pastor at Faith Ministries International in Mbare, Harare, and was arrested for fraud and forgery in a matter where the City of Harare is the complainant.

The court heard that in January this year, Faith Ministries International got embroiled in a dispute over a piece of land adjacent to its church which was temporarily leased to True Believers International Ministries.

The former was using the land for parking before it was leased to True Believers, the court heard.

However, Faith Ministries allegedly tried to acquire the same land as an extension of their church stand but failed.

The court heard that, after the application was turned down, Faith Ministries International, through Nyamasoka, allegedly began victimising congregants at the other church.

Nyamasoka allegedly engaged individuals who would purport to be from ZRP, President's Department and Zanu PF youth league to harass members of the other church.

In April 2024, Nyamasoka allegedly called council officials pretending to be a Zaac officer warning them to rescind the allocation of the stand to the rival church.

Chanakira further accused Nyamasoka of generating a fake letter with a computer-generated letterhead warning the district officer to desist from proceeding with the allocation as the issue was under Zacc investigations.

He was reported to the police leading to his arrest.

 

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