(Hanging a picture of Zimbabwe president Mnangagwa. Source: Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters/Council on Foreign Relations)

In Zimbabwe’s spiritual and political landscape, a prophecy born over six decades ago continues to shape the country’s future. In 1957, Mudzidzi Wimbo, a leader of an indigenous Christian church in Zimbabwe, prophesied that when the country became independent it would be led by a man with the name of an angel, Gabriel. Mudzidzi Wimbo made the prophecy to a group of nationalists who at the time were fighting the white colonial regime and had visited his place of worship for spiritual guidance. This prophecy is widely believed by many in the country to have come to pass when Robert Gabriel Mugabe became the first post-colonial leader of Zimbabwe in 1980. In turn, Mudzidzi Wimbo went on to become a revered religious leader within Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu PF, until his death in 2018 at the age of 96.

Mudzidzi Wimbo’s legacy extends far beyond a single moment in history. Since 1980, his prophecy has triggered tremendous interest from political and church leaders throughout Zimbabwe. The ruling party now acts as if its leaders are determined by clergy or by prophets, religious individuals with the power to tell the future. And ahead of each general election, Zanu PF politicians visit different church leaders or prophets’ places of worship for prophecies and spiritual guidance.

In Zimbabwe, Christianity is the dominant religion, with indigenous apostolic sects making up a large share of the country’s Christian denominations. These churches blend African traditional beliefs with Christianity. Today, indigenous apostolic sects make up to 50 percent of Zimbabwe’s population. And their churches and prophets are now playing important roles in the country’s political discourse; in some, church leaders actively promote the destruction of democracy and instruct their congregants only to vote for the ruling party, Zanu PF.

Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa showers these church leaders with expensive vehicles, large sums of money, vast tracts of land, and other gifts. For instance, earlier this year, President Mnangagwa donated $200,000 to pastors to fund projects that will generate income for their churches. He has also given indigenous churches free land for agricultural activities and to construct places of worship and schools. Some of the money is given to clergy through President Mnangagwa’s proxies and businesspeople with strong links to the ruling party. In turn, the clergy pressure their followers to support President Mnangagwa. Many tell their followers that presidents are chosen by God.

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, some pastors openly told congregants during church services to vote for President Mnangagwa. They promised 5 million votes for him. One church leader even made a bizarre claim to his congregation that people who vote for Zanu PF and President Mnangagwa will live longer. In many such communities, believers fear for the unknown if they go against their religious leaders.

President  Mnangagwa came to power in 2017 on the back of a military coup that ousted long-time dictator Robert Mugabe, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 37 years. Upon grabbing power, President Mnangagwa promised sweeping socio-political and economic reforms. President Mnangagwa even promised that he would listen to the people. “The voice of the people is the voice of God,” President Mnangagwa assured the Zimbabweans soon after seizing power from Mugabe. And he preached the dawn of a “New Dispensation”; a new republic anchored on the respect of rule of law and other reforms. But this “new dispensation” has sadly remained a mirage and an unending nightmare for the millions of suffering Zimbabweans as the economy is worse than before, and the political environment has significantly deteriorated.

Eight years after the coup, President Mnangagwa has proved to be worse than his predecessor. He is accused of jailing journalists and brutalizing and killing human rights and political activists. Earlier this year, the regime arrested a reporter, Blessed Mhlanga, after he interviewed an anti-Mnangagwa politician who called on the president to step down. Mhlanga spent 73 days in pre-trial detention.

Corruption is now endemic under President Mnangagwa’s watch. A recent explosive Al Jazeera documentary revealed that President Mnangagwa is the leader of Zimbabwe’s gold mafia; a gold smuggling cartel that is fleecing the country of gold worth millions of dollars each year. Amid the festering corruption, the country’s economy and education sectors have completely collapsed. Millions of people in Zimbabwe are out of jobs with many going hungry.

In a recent report, Human Rights Watch—an NGO that investigates and reports abuses happening in all corners of the world—revealed that in 2024, Zimbabwean authorities acted to undermine democratic processes, repressed civil society, and restricted political pluralism.

“They [President Mnangagwa’s ruling party] continued to weaponize the criminal justice system against perceived critics and the political opposition. Impunity for the ruling party Zanu PF’s violence, intimidation, harassment, and repression against opposition members and civil society activists restricted civic and political space. The authorities failed to uphold the government’s domestic and international human rights obligations to respect peaceful activism,” the report said.

However, President Mnangagwa has found unwavering support from various church leaders in Zimbabwe, particularly leaders of major indigenous churches. Unlike Anglican, United Methodist, Roman Catholic, and many other denominations that were introduced in Zimbabwe by white missionaries, the indigenous churches were founded and are led by local people and have the trust of millions throughout the country.

Some of the pro-President Mnangagwa clergy have formed Pastors4ED, an association of pastors who use the pulpit to push the president’s agenda. The group campaigned vigorously during the 2023 general elections and mobilized resources for President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF party. The election was riddled with allegations of rigging, which forced then-opposition Citizens Coalition for Change leader, Nelson Chamisa, to challenge the results. Though the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission declared President Mnangagwa the winner, Chamisa has never accepted the results.

Archbishop Andby Makururu, leader of Johanne the Fifth of Africa—a Zimbabwe-based apostolic church with nearly two million members—is one of President Mnangagwa’s strongest supporters. He argues that President Mnangagwa was “chosen by God” and should serve the country beyond the end of his second term in 2028. President Mnangagwa’s second and final term ends in 2028, but his close allies are now pushing to amend the country’s constitution and extend his term of office to 2030. Archbishop Makururu has been on whirlwind tours through different parts of Zimbabwe and the Southern Africa region rallying his followers behind President Mnangagwa.

The extension of President Mnangagwa’s term, Archbishop Makururu says, is part of Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030, a plan to turn the country into an upper-middle economy by 2030.

“I’m mobilizing the people, especially members of my church, to support President Mnangagwa’s vision. Vision 2030 is a prophecy by our president. President Mnangagwa is telling us that he wants to achieve certain things by 2030. I’m 100 percent behind this vision,” he said in an interview with The Revealer.

Archbishop Makururu is now also recruiting traditional leaders like village heads and chiefs to support President Mnangagwa’s plans to stay in office past the end of his second term. He said he was donating motorbikes to some village heads in Zimbabwe for them to mobilize people within their communities to rally behind the president.

“As a church, we want President Mnangagwa to succeed in what he is doing. There are laws of the land, but we should not stick to the written national constitution. The president was elected by God, not humans. There will be no elections in Zimbabwe in 2028; that I can tell you,” he said. “Election is like gambling, and we cannot gamble with the future of our country.”

For Archbishop Makururu, President Mnangagwa is like a king anointed by God who should not be challenged or dethroned.

“President Mnangagwa is a king, and he is the only one who can appoint his successor. As a country, we should emulate China. China does not hold general elections, but the country is progressing well. Zimbabwe can progress well without elections, and our president is focused on development,” Archbishop Makururu said.

In his interview with The Revealer, Archbishop Makururu shared snippets of some of his prophecies from the past few years, saying, “In 2018 I was told by God that President Mnangagwa was going to win that year’s elections; and he won. In 2022, I prophesied the outcome of the 2023 general election, which President Mnangagwa won. I also prophesied the outcomes of the recent elections in Mozambique and Botswana.” (He originally posted some of these prophesies on his Facebook page.)

Today, Archbishop Makururu says God has told him about President Mnangagwa’s plans to develop Zimbabwe.

“He [President Mnangagwa] is developing infrastructure like the Beitbridge Border Post, the Bulawayo road, and many other new infrastructures in the country. Our duty as the church is for us to tell the people about this vision. But I’m worried that former colonizers are trying to cause chaos in Africa. It is my duty to preach the word of my president. President Mnangagwa is our leader who will take us to Canaan,” he said.

But James Ndlovu from the Department of Media, Language and Communication at Durban University of Technology in South Africa said that too many leaders are allowing the church to be used as a vehicle to spread political messages. He believes religious leaders should work on behalf of their communities and congregants, not on behalf of the government or a political leader.

“When there is injustice, church leaders must stand with those at the receiving end and bring them messages of hope. Any deviation of any kind must be condemned in the strongest terms,” said Ndlovu, who has done extensive studies on religion in Zimbabwe.

He said the problem is when church leaders become part of Zimbabwe’s repressive regime.

“When the rot or corruption is from within, they end up seeking political allies in order to gain access to protection. There is need for the church collective to introspect and self-correct before blaming political influences. The church must speak against all forms of injustices. All leaders must be accountable,” he said.

Tendai Ruben Mbofana, a Zimbabwe-based social justice advocate and writer, said the issue of pastors delving into partisan politics touches on a deeply troubling and increasingly visible trend in Zimbabwe’s political landscape.

“Church leaders should be the moral compass of society. Their role is not to entrench oppression, but to speak truth to power, defend the downtrodden, and call out injustice—regardless of who is in power. The prophetic voice of the church must never be silenced or compromised by political interests,” Mbofana said.

Mbofana said that when clergy begin to parrot the propaganda of the ruling elite or coerce their congregants into supporting a particular party—especially one with a record of violence, corruption, and repression—they become enablers of tyranny.

“Statements like ‘there will be no elections in 2028; President Mnangagwa is the chosen one’ are not only blasphemous but dangerously anti-democratic. Such utterances elevate a mortal leader above constitutional order, democratic principles, and the will of the people,” Mbofana said.

He adds that churches in Zimbabwe should be advocating for transparent governance and accountability, the protection of human rights and dignity, economic justice for the poor and marginalized, and peaceful coexistence and national unity—not partisanship.

“History is filled with examples of religious leaders who stood firm against injustice; from Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa to Martin Luther King Jr. in the U.S. That is the legacy Zimbabwe’s church leaders should emulate—not one of silence or complicity in the face of oppression,” he said.

Similarly, former Zimbabwe senator and senior Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) leader Morgen Komichi said the church should play a role in strengthening the country’s constitution.

Komichi contends that if religious leaders are pushing to amend the national constitution, it should benefit the general populace in Zimbabwe, not a few individuals.

“Is the economy going to grow by extending the presidential term to 2030? The term extension is going to benefit a small group of people; it benefits an individual. We don’t see the masses in the whole equation of term extension. As opposition movements, we implore the churches to be impartial,” Komichi said.

However, as Zimbabwe’s church leaders navigate the complex landscape of politics and faith, critics urge them to prioritize their moral authority and advocate for the rights of the people.

With the country’s future at stake, the role of church leaders in promoting democracy and political accountability has never been more crucial.

Andrew Mambondiyani is a journalist based in Zimbabwe with bylines in local, regional, and international publications, including BBC, U.S. News & World Report, MIT Technology Review, Yale E360, The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, Mongabay, Vice, and The Daily Beast, among others.