A business-couple — Mr Upenyu Mashangwa and his wife
Blessing – cannot recover tithes amounting to $1,1 million from United Family
Church International (UFIC) leader Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa as such
contributions are ‘free will offerings’ which can only be recovered from God, a
High Court Judge has said.
In a recent ruling in which he dismissed the Mashangwas
$6,5 million lawsuit against Prophet Makandiwa and his wife Prophetess Ruth,
High Court Judge Owen Tagu, said the claim to recover tithes and offerings was
frivolous.
The Mashangwa couple — former UFIC members between 2014 and
2016, claimed that were called on to the church stage during service by Prophet
Makandiwa to parade them as an epitome of success. Consequently, they made
varying church offerings and tithes amounting to $1,1 million which they later
claimed back after quitting UFIC.
Tithes constitute 10 percent of the giver’s income. Justice
Tagu said tithes and offerings are biblical concepts recorded in the Holy Bible
as early as the Book of Genesis. He said, “Tithes and offerings are acts of
worship that edifies the relationship between the person who gives the offering
and God. They are predicated on the believers’ faith and are not enforced. They
are free will offerings given in all Christian Churches. “However, what makes
the claim frivolous and vexatious in my view, is the fact that if ever the
respondents parted with such kind of money inside the third applicant (UFIC)
those were free will offerings not recoverable from anyone unless the
respondents (Mashangwa) wish to try the impossible and get that from God the
Receiver of the offerings. How they hope to get a court to interpret scripture
and say one reading is preferable to another in the Holy Bible remains a
mystery.”
Justice Tagu also trashed the Mashangwa’s claim that
Prophet Makandiwa gave them a prophecy over a debt cancellation involving $500
000 which they owed to a local bank.
The Mashangwa couple lost a Marlborough house as a result
of the unpaid debt. The High Court judge in his ruling noted that the same
house had been sold to Nemanji Family Trust for $800 000.
Justice Tagu added that the business couple could not
ignore their debt because they had borrowed the money in terms of positive law
and not ecclesiastical law.
Even in the Bible, he said, God told Adam that he would eat
from his sweat.
“This is loosely translated to mean that there is nothing
for free and every man shall work hard to achieve what he wanted until death
and that God would give them power and wisdom to achieve their goals and not
just expect miracles to happen on their own. If Makandiwas talked season of
miraculous cancellation of debts he did not literally mean those with debts
should go home and just sit waiting for debts to be miraculously wiped without
them doing something about them,” he said.
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“Hence the claim was based on falsehoods meant to annoy,
vex and harass the applicants and without any bona fide intention of obtaining
relief.”
Justice Tagu also dismissed a $2 million claim by the
Mashangwas for being used to market UFIC when they were paraded on stage as
successful businesspeople.
He said the allegations by Mashangwa couple that they were
told that Mr Tichaona Mawere was a great lawyer who could not lose a case were
baseless because Prophet Makandiwa did not directly advised them to hire the
lawyer.
“The claim was contrived and perjured. In my view if indeed
the applicants said Tichaona Mawere was a great lawyer, or words to that effect
they did not specifically told the Mashangwas to hire him. They just
misconstrued the prophecy or sermon to their own prejudice. It is equally
frivolous and vexatious that no relief could be obtained from it,” ruled
Justice Tagu.
He chastised the Mashangwas for suing Prophet Makandiwa in
their personal capacity over allegations against their company which sells
perfumes.
Justice Tagu did not entertain claims by the Mashangwa
couple that they were tarnished on a Facebook page ‘Truth About Makandiwa’,
saying the same social media outlet had no links to the prophet.
“The sixth claim is on the pleadings so patently groundless
that the respondents cannot ever hope to succeed in obtaining relief on hence
should be summarily dismissed as being frivolous and vexatious,” said the High
Court Judge.
“Each of the six claims aforesaid be and is hereby
summarily dismissed with costs at the legal practitioner-client scale.”
However, the Mashangwas have since appealed against the
ruling at the Supreme Court. Sunday Mail
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