Zimbabwe Pastor Deported from Botswana after Urging Church Members to Stop AIDS Medicine

From the Botswana Sunday Standard:

Deported Zimbabwean priest, Edmore Chaka, is suspected to have used his church, Abundant Life Ministries, in a racket to rob HIV Batswana of their ARV medication and sell it on Zimbabwe black market.Police started investigating Chaka after a number of his followers who were HIV positive died after he told them to surrender their ARV drugs to him and, instead, use the suspicious concoction that he sold to them. It has not been established where Chaka took the ARV drugs that his followers surrendered. It is, however, suspected that he sold them in the Zimbabwe black-market where they are on high demand…

Chaka was deported alongside Pastor Chris Chissana, who was allegedly running an unregistered branch of the Christ Embassy (a Nigerian church, which I blogged here), and none other than Caesar Zvayi, former editor of the Zimbabwe Herald and notorious pro-Robert Mugabe hack (see here). Zvayi has now written an account of his “ordeal”, in typical form:

the campaign was directed to the House of Chiefs, of which Ian Khama (Khama IV) is a member, having descended from Khama III, one of the Kgosi (chiefs), who along with two others — Bathoen 1 and Sebele 1 — approached the Queen of England, Queen Victoria, in October 1895, to ask for protection from Boer encroachment as other African countries selflessly fought colonialism in the region.

The trio’s actions saw Botswana become a British protectorate sworn to the politics of Western appeasement, and the trio venerated as Batswana heroes to this day.

Zvayi claims that one of the pastors was in fact deported because “opposition BNF members” attended his church.

Zvayi’s account has some differences from other reports: “Edmore Chaka” has become “Edmore Chijena”, and he, rather than Chissana, is named as running a “Christ Embassy” church.

6 Responses

  1. To the fool who posted the comment acusing Zvayi of lying. Zvayi clearly said he was deported along with Pastor Edmore Chijena of Christ Embassy Church from Gaborone. The pastor you accuse of urging people to stop taking ARV’s is Edmore Chaka of Abundant Life Ministries, who was deported from Francistown. Why don’t you read properly before making accusations. Shame on you shallow-minded bugger. You obviously admire that homosexual Khama.

  2. I haven’t accused anyone of anything. But obviously the names have become confused somehow. There is no mention anywhere apart from in Zvayi’s reports to “Edmore Chijena of Christ Embassy Church from Gaborone”, but other media tell us that Chris Chissana ran the Christ Embassy Church in Gaborone, and that an Edmore Chaka was also deported.

    Incidentally, your crude abusive tone is rather unbecoming from someone who seeks to be taken seriously as a media professional.

  3. my pastor is pastor andy chijena. i know pastor edmore because i had a cousin who went to his church.i hope you are ready to write an article about pastor andy returning. 4rm pastor ole in london, uk.

  4. [Comments must be in a language I can understand due to possible libel liability – RB]

  5. ON KHAMA:
    1. This guy presides over a very rich country with the following:
    2. No one has died due to starvation;
    3. No Motswana has died due to preventable cholera;
    4. No Motswana has died due to corruptly procured election processes;
    5. His economy has billions of dollars in foreign reserves covering more than 30 months of import;
    6. He has no government sponsored hit men who kidnap and kill with impunity;
    7. He has no political detainees in his jails; that which he loves and cherishes wishes for Zimbabweans;
    8. He has not presided over the swapping of a mechanised farms with a donkey draughts power in the name of political expediency;
    9. His country is not isolated by the rest of the world;
    10. He presides over the longest and vibrant democracy in Africa;
    11. He is not taking his people for granted;
    12. He does not believe that he is indispensable to the country;
    13. He has no homosexuals in jail and sexuality is not even an issue;
    14. His country has contributed immensely to our development since history and contemporaneously; to stem the cholera disease, to restart our agriculture, to vaccinate our cattle against foot and mouth, and 8years ago even provided credit line for fuel for us. They pay heavily due to Zimbabwean economic refugees both in terms of environmental damage and their treasury; and,
    15. They export goods and services and political legitimacy to the rest of the world not cholera and political upheavals.

    WE IN ZIMBABWE MUST PAUSE AND DO OUR SPADE WORK;
    1. Is this the direction we want our country to go to in 2009?
    2. Are our leaders about us or about their families and friends?
    3. Where is true patriotism?
    4. How long are we going to live on lies and half truths in the mist of crushing hunger and decaying economy?
    5. How long are we going to continue pointing fingers at countries like Botswana where democracy is genuine?
    6. When are we going to come to our senses that our leaders are as stupid as Banda, Mabuto and Abacha;
    7. When are we going to die for the right cause for the sake of our country?
    8. When are we going to do away with misinformation from the Heralds whose news represents the elite and nothing for poor people?
    9. Imagine 2009 with the same decaying institutions;
    10. What we are debating today will pale in comparison come December 2009;
    11. The economy would be totally dead;
    12. The military would have joined Guiney military hanta and not Ghana today;
    13. Many more people would be dying at age 20;
    14. Zimbabweans have no dignity it would be worse in 12 months;
    15. We live on handouts and the Herald lionises that as if it is a normal thing that must happen to Zimbabwe; the paper even questions the outbreak of cholera such as in the title “Questions about Zim cholera cases” arguing it is a normal third world problem; even comparing us to transitioning economies that are not yet third word;
    16. We would have worse cholera outbreak;
    17. Neighbours would be imposing sanctions on us; closing borders;
    18. Neighbouring country would be sending their military in to take some of us to The Hague and save Zimbabwe from herself;
    19. Nobody would be willing to fight for a passing government;
    20. By December 2009 we would all be saying if we had gone for the presidential rerun under international supervision things would be different;
    21. In December 2009 the only people who might be free would be those dying, in the graves or in jail;
    22. Are these things what we want for the future of Zimbabwe and our children!!!

  6. I WONDER WHY SOME FELLAS DNT UNDSTND HW PERFECT AND HONOURED I FIL 2 BE ZIMBABWEAN.WISH WE HAD THE SAME FEELING.THERE IS SO MCH MO U ARE LEAVING OUT.THE PROBLEM IS U R SO NAIVE 2 POINT ONLY AT THE BAD THINGS ABT YO COUNTRY AND LEAVING OUT THE BETA SIDE.MY FRENT,U MST TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT WT U ADMIRE ABT OTHER COUNTRIES AND SCRUTINISE…GREENER PASTURES ARE SO BLACK.. TRUST ME

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