32 members of Zimbabwe sect appear in court

BULAWAYO – Thirty-two members of a Bulawayo-based sect who were arrested last week for besieging a police station to protest against the arrest of their members appeared in court on Monday charged under the Miscelleneous Offences Act.

But there was drama at the court as the sect members who had broken into religious songs refused to enter the dock or furnish the court officials with their names and identification particulars.

They also refused to answer questions from the magistrate, Lizwe Jamela. The magistrate remanded them in custody to February 13.

The sect members were arrested last week after they besieged a police station to protest against the detention of four of their colleagues who had been arrested for attempting to fraudulently withdraw cash from a bank.

The four were said to have told the bank authorities that they wanted to “withdraw money which came from God”. After their arrest, the other church members then besieged the police station demanding the release of their colleagues.

The cult is led by a woman, Memory Ncube. Leaders of the cult broke away from the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Bulawayo over doctrinal differences.

The cult leaders were said to have told their followers to quit their jobs in preparation for Jesus’ second coming. They also demanded that church members be circumcised.

“As a church, we definitely could not allow such things because it tarnished our image. So we had to politely tell them to find somewhere else to do those things.

“The SDA does not force people to be circumcised because that is not within our code of conduct,” said Bekezela Nkomo, a pastor with the SDA.

Contacted for comment on why they had arrested the cult members, police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka said: “When we get reports that someone has committed a crime, we do not look at who they are or where they belong, but act accordingly.

“A criminal is a criminal, we have had government ministers and doctors being arrested for committing crimes, what is special about this church that we should not arrest its members whom we suspect to have committed a crime?

“There are criminals that hide behind various respectable bodies and we are out to get such sophisticated criminals. If those people are innocent, they will be released but police have to investigate all the reports they get.” – ZimOnline

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