Youths Armed With Machetes Block Access To Johanne Masowe’s Grave

More than 20 visibly agitated youths, armed with machetes, knobkerries and other weapons, have set up a vigil at the entrance of the Gospel of God Church International (1932) headquarters in Gandanzara. The group is reportedly being led by a bouncer identified as Saunyama.

They are blocking access to the grave of the church’s late founder, Peter Jack Masedza, widely known as Johanne Masowe.

Church leaders are resisting a court-approved exhumation of Masowe’s remains, despite the process having been authorised after lengthy legal and administrative proceedings.

Masowe, who died in 1973, was buried at the Gandanzara shrine in Makoni District, which later became the church’s main headquarters.

On 25 March 2026, lawyers representing Masowe’s biological sons, Magaga and Rueben, formally notified the church that the exhumation would take place on 2 April.

A relative of the Masedza family, Tawanda Kutsanzira, told The Manica Post that the group may have heard about the planned exhumation and decided to guard the grave.

“No one came to exhume the remains. I think they received information that people were waiting for them, so they decided not to come.

“These youths came from various places, some from as far as Chegutu, to ensure the exhumation does not proceed,” said Kutsanzira.

Johanne Masowe’s biological sons, Magaga and Rueben Masedza, have long maintained that they should be allowed to rebury their father at a location they can access freely.

In a formal notice dated 25 March 2026, their lawyers informed the Gospel of God Church International that the exhumation is set to take place on 2 April 2026 at the Gandanzara Shrine in Makoni District, Rusape.

The church, however, maintains that the burial site was chosen by Masedza himself and has since become a sacred place for thousands of congregants.

In correspondence, Mushangwe and Company Legal Practitioners confirmed that all necessary administrative procedures have been followed and that a burial order has been secured.

The firm cited a High Court ruling under Case No. HCH1769/23, which granted the family permission to exhume the remains, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court under Case No. SCI 12/25.

Further confirmation came from Provincial Registrar J Munamati, who, in a letter dated 10 March, said that the district registrar had been authorised to issue the burial order. Reads the letter in part: “This office has no objection to the exhumation and subsequent reburial of the remains of the late Johane Masowe.”

In his letter, Munamati said the process must follow all the relevant legal and public health requirements.

Magaga, who has led the long-running legal fight, said their father deserves to rest where he belongs — among his own people and family.

Back in December 2025, the Supreme Court brought an end to a decades-long dispute over the burial of Johane Masowe.

It dismissed an appeal by the Gospel of God Church International and confirmed that his sons are entitled to pursue the legal process to exhume and rebury him.

However, the court made it clear that only Government authorities, not the courts, have the power to authorise an exhumation.

A key issue in the case was whether a burial site regarded as a shrine could be treated differently under the law.

The Supreme Court ruled that no burial place, shrine or otherwise, is exempt from the Cemeteries Act, and that anyone seeking an exhumation must follow the proper administrative procedures set out in the law.