The brother of the late Professor Itai Muwati claims his brother was killed at Madzibaba Ishmael’s shrine because he disagreed with some of his orders, including one in which he ordered every man to dump his wife if she was not a virgin when they married.
In return, Admire Muwati claimed, Madzibaba Ishmael promised he would give each of these men virgins to take as their new wives.
The mysterious death of Prof Muwati has now emerged as one of the biggest controversies to emerge from the Nyabira shrine.
Admire was on Tilder’s show on StarFM on Tuesday, where he revealed how his brother met his gruesome death.
“Madzibaba Ishmael akaudza vadzidzi vake kuti kana wakaroora mukadzi wako asiri mhandara murambe tinokupa mumwe mukadzi achiri wechidiki ari mhandara,” he said.
“Varume pavakatanga kunzwa zvemadzimai manyowani vakatanga kusimudza musoro vachiti uku kwanaka kunopihwa madzimai emahara.
“Ishmael akazoita munamato wembiya achiita varume kuti misana yavo isimbe nekuti vakange vave kuda kunoita zvevakadzi vakawanda.
“Vanhu vese vakanwa from mbiya iyoyo vakabva vaita sokunge vaputirwa zvokuti hapana anonzwisisa ukada kutaura naye kunze kwekunge ndi Ishmael ariye ataura.
“If you try to have a conversation with them, and try to tell them anything bad about Ishmael, they will tell you that ‘Mambo Ishmael’ said we should do this and that.”
Admire said his brother tried to leave the church and, in doing that, signed his death papers..
“There came a time that my brother said what was happening at the church was not right because of the way that people were dying and also if you tried to go against ‘Mwari’ Ishmael, you would die a mysterious death.
“My brother was just addressing them as a learned person that the way they were now worshipping was not right.
“There was a misunderstanding, among his right hand-men, and there was village court at the farm, so Ishmael said God had instructed that my brother should die, they took their sticks and started beating my brother.”
He said they were now looking for help to go and retrieve the late professor’s property.
“Our brother had wealth and properties and we are now looking for help to go get the things that he left there,” said Admire.
“He left behind six children and it is difficult for us to take care of them so we need to go and get the cattle and other domestic animals that he left behind.
“In 2022, he had told us that he had 27 cattle, meaning that right now if we collect them we can start from somewhere so that his family and children are taken care of and go to school.”
Admire said he fell out with Madzibaba Ishmael when he ordered the church members to sell all their belongings and disown their relatives.
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“I went against what Madzibaba Ishmael was saying and I left the church,” he said.
“During that time, many men left their jobs because that is what they were told by Ishmael, my brother continued with his work at the University of Zimbabwe.
“When Ishmael was arrested and jailed for four years, and upon his return he went to stay in Murehwa, one of his congregants found plots in Nyabira.
“They invited everyone that they used to worship with to go and stay in Nyabira and they referred to it as their land of milk and honey (Canaan).
“They were told to sell their phones, beds and televisions, his followers were doing anything and everything he says to the extent that he was referred to as god.”
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