In a dramatic turn of events, a pastor from the End Time Messages church in Chiredzi has been ordered to pay child support after DNA tests revealed he fathered two children with the wife of a man whose wedding he had officiated.
The marriage of Eunice Mururi and Farai Hatirarami came to a shocking end when it was discovered that Hatirarami was not the biological father of the two children he had raised as his own. Mururi recently took Pastor Vhetu to the Chiredzi Magistrate Court, demanding US$700 a month in child maintenance for the couple’s two children, aged 8 and 4.
In court, Pastor Vhetu confessed to fathering the children but pleaded for a reduction in the amount sought, citing financial difficulties. He explained that his primary income as a pastor comes from tithes and offerings, often in the form of food rather than cash. Represented by Farai Chauke of F. Chauke and Associates, Vhetu claimed he had no steady salary and could only afford to pay 150 Zimbabwean dollars (ZiG) per child in monthly support.
Aside from his duties as a pastor, Vhetu disclosed that he is also a farmer and already has eight other children to care for. He further explained that he doesn’t have a bank account, relying only on an EcoCash account, and offered to cover the children’s school fees and uniforms. However, he stirred controversy by sarcastically suggesting that new clothes should only be bought twice a year, adding, “Only Elon Musk’s children get new clothes every month.”
Magistrate Diana Musiiwa was unmoved by Vhetu’s claims, calling his offer “insincere” and ruling that he must pay US$175 per month for both children. The case has left the local community in disbelief, with many shocked by the pastor’s betrayal and the collapse of the marriage he once blessed.
