Prophet Clever Kudzanai Mugambiwa, founder of Covenant Family International Church has taken the Southern African country by storm after he claimed he "resurrected" his own son and a congregant's daughter before "resurrecting" three other children from different places recently.
Prophet Mugambiwa said he also miraculously healed an HIV positive five-year-old boy who was born HIV positive and healed him of herpes in full view of congregants. It is alleged that Prophet Mugambiwa prayed for the HIV positive boy (name withheld) before ordering him to go for another HIV test where the results came out negative.
However, Prophet Mugambiwa advised the boy to continue taking medication until his parents and doctors were satisfied that he was indeed HIV negative. The boy's mother told Sunday Leisure that her son was born HIV positive and has been on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) treatment since 2013. She added that her son was battling a terrible skin disease and a stomach disorder for over three years.
"I first heard of Prophet Mugambiwa when my sister visited me insisting that I should take my child to Covenant Family International. My brother clandestinely took my son to church where the prophet is said to have prayed for him and when they came back the skin disease had disappeared," she said.
She said they also took the child for an HIV test at the instruction of the prophet.
"We went for another test at Mbizo 1 clinic and the results came out negative. We then went to Poly Clinic and the results again came out negative. However, Prophet Mugambiwa said we first need to have a blood test which requires about $100 before stopping the boy from taking medication," she added.
HIV test results in possession of Sunday Leisure show that the boy tested negative at two different testing points. Sunday Leisure also has in possession medical records that confirm that the five-year-old boy was initiated on ART therapy from birth.
Another church member Linda Hlatshwayo said her child was "resurrected" after she died under mysterious circumstances." However, Sunday Leisure understands all kids said to have been dead before the intervention of the prophet had not been certified dead by any medical personnel.
"On 2 October, I went to my kids' bedroom to check on my twin daughter who had vomited thrice the day before. We took her to the sitting room and left her sitting on the sofa. In a matter of minutes, she fell flat on the sofa. I then asked the maid to dress her up so that we could take her to the clinic. As she was being dressed up, I noticed that she was not breathing anymore. Her stomach had sunk in with no sign of movement of the rib cage," said Hlatshwayo.
She said she called the prophet.
"He then prayed for her rebuking the spirit of death and illness over the phone. As the Prophet was praying for her, I felt my daughters' heart start to beat fast. The Prophet then told me to apply anointing oil on her chest and then I gave her some water to drink," said Hlatshwayo.
Prophet Mugambiwa confirmed the miraculous "resurrections" and the reversing of HIV status saying they were acts of God.
"It is God at work and we are just vessels used to glorify His name," he said.
However, a local acting Provincial medical superintendent Dr Armstrong Mupandawana said a person can only be declared HIV negative after going for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test which detects the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). He said the viral load of a person living with HIV can drop to undetectable levels but the antibody test remains positive.
"A simple antibody test, which is the simplest test might be invalid and fail to detect the presence of HIV. I might not know what exactly happened for the child to test negative but if he was on medication and once tested positive he needs to go for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which looks for the HIV virus in the human blood system. This is the most accurate test. If he comes out negative then it will be the first of its own kind. HIV and Aids cannot be cured but can only be treated," he said.
He also said it was also not possible for a person who had been dead to resurrect unless the person was unconscious and people assumed that they could have died.
"I have never seen a person resurrect. It is not possible unless they produce a medical report written by an authentic doctor certifying the death of the person. Being motionless does not mean a person is dead," he said.