President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he was shocked by the untimely passing away of the leader of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church, the self-proclaimed High Priest St Noah Taguta Momberume.
The polygamist died in April this year and was believed to have been in his 90s.
He was succeeded by one of his sons, Mutumwa Nimrod Taguta, who took over both the church and the family in May.
President Mnangagwa attended the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church during its annual Passover at Mafararikwa Shrine in Marange on Saturday.
Addressing thousands of pilgrims who had gathered at the shrine, Mnangagwa said he had never spoken before such a humongous crowd. He said:
I was shocked and saddened by the death of my close friend, St Noah Taguta. When I received news of his death, I could not believe it as we had met the previous month.
He was in the company of his son, the new High Priest. Little did I know that he was introducing me to the new leader of this church.
Despite his youthfulness, High Priest Nimrod has shown great leadership qualities as evidenced by successfully organising this year’s annual Passover gathering, which is oversubscribed.
I have never addressed such a big crowd and I am at a loss for words.
Mnangagwa promised to continue assisting the apostolic sect to construct more schools.
The sect built St Noah Group of Schools comprising St Noah One and Two, St Abel, St Zachariah, St Makaab as well as St Arnold One and Two.
It has several farms in Chipinge and Nyazura and also electrified Taguta Village and constructed a modern football pitch in rural Mafararikwa.
The Johane Marange Apostolic Church, which has the largest number of mapostori (white garment) followers in Marange, is notorious for child marriages.
Last year, a 15-year-old girl, Anna Machaya, died during childbirth at the Marange shrine in Bocha and was allegedly buried in a secret place.
The man responsible for the pregnancy, Hatirarami Momberume, coincidentally shares the same surname as the late Mutumwa Noah Taguta Momberume, though it is not known whether the two are related or not.
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