Founder of the Zimbabwean church, Living Waters Ministries, Apostle Christopher Mudavarima, has denied sleeping with and extorting 12 single mothers in his church.
He stressed that he only had affairs with three of the women.
The controversy came to light when incriminating evidence, including pictures and chat transcripts, surfaced in a church WhatsApp group.
One unidentified victim exposed Mudavarima’s alleged pattern of proposing marriage to numerous women within the church, soliciting financial contributions under the guise of Apostle Vutabwashe’s endorsement.
A total of 12 women stepped forward with allegations of fraudulent romance and extortion against the church founder.
Reacting to the allegations, the cleric said he only actually had affairs with three different women.
Speaking to H-Metro, he said:
“What they are saying are all lies, but I double-crossed three different women so they teamed up to fabricate these stories. It’s Maggie who opened my phone and found out that I was dating Candy and Claris.”
Speaking on the matter, one victim, who chose to remain anonymous, voiced her distress: “This man is a womaniser, he has been proposing to different women in church.”
Apostle Christopher Mudawarima reportedly has a track record of being involved in controversies stemming from questionable actions, and this recent incident is not an isolated one.
In April 2022, Mudawarima was convicted of defrauding a job seeker of US$183 by falsely promising to secure a job for them at a mining company.
According to the Masvingo Mirror, Mudawarima received a sentence of 48 months, with 18 months suspended on the condition that he reimburse the complainant, and an additional 3 months suspended contingent upon good behavior.
Court proceedings revealed that the accused had a previous six-month suspended jail term from another case, which was reactivated. Consequently, he faces an effective 30-month prison term. The reason behind his absence from state custody remains unclear.