A 55-year-old Harare woman allegedly spent four weeks bedridden in her house because members of her church were discouraging her from seeking medical attention.
Report by Jennifer Dube
Tandiwe Mwakutuya, who could not walk or speak properly, was saved by one of her neighbours who stole her phone and alerted her relatives about her deteriorating condition.
Her relatives were last week furious accusing Madzibaba Manjoro, one of the leaders of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church, of discouraging Mwakutuya from seeking medical treatment despite the fact that she was seriously ill.
“Tenants she lives with are from her church so they would help the church leader Madzibaba Manjoro to carry her to their healing shrine in Glen View where they were conducting healing sessions,” said one family member.
The church members only prayed and sprinkled her with “holy water”, said the member.
Mwakutuya’s sister Linda Maunganidze said she was shocked by her sister’s condition when she took her to Harare hospital for treatment last week.
“The neighbour urged us to quickly come to our sister’s house and see what was happening,” said Maunganidze.
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“We rushed there and found her sitting motionlessly, in soiled panties. We were shocked to realise she could not walk. We quickly bathed her hoping to take her to hospital, but she refused.”
Maunganidze said Mwakutuya, who could not speak properly, only made sounds indicating that she was not willing to go to hospital.
The family had to seek the assistance of the police and they forcibly carried her to a nearby clinic. She was transferred to Harare Central Hospital where she is recovering.
“When we saw her, her whole body was swollen and she could hardly eat,” another relative said.
“She can talk now and the first thing she said was she was grateful to her church for the healing. She now wants to leave hospital so could go to their shrine and be cleansed of the sin of being in a hospital.”
StandardCommunity news crew could not get a comment from Mwakutuya when it visited the hospital last week.
However, hospital authorities confirmed that she was receiving treatment at the hospital.
Mwakutuya’s relatives said they have since confiscated her phone to stop her from communicating with members of her church. But Manjoro last week professed ignorance of the case and promised to visit The Standard offices for further discussion last Thursday, but did not turn up.
Attempts to talk to him later were fruitless as his phone was not reachable.
A 2011 Unicef survey, Apostolic Religion, Health and Utilisation of Maternal and Child Health Services in Zimbabwe lamented the low uptake of modern health services and poor immunisation coverage among Johanne Marange, Madhidha and conservative segments of Johanne Masowe sects.
Health officials say hundreds of children have died in recent years after their parents refused to have them immunised, citing strict religious beliefs.
Some members of the Apostolic churches shun most forms of Western medicine in the belief that it diminishes their supernatural powers.
