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Barely 5 months after demanding that Botswana citizens must buy him a brand new car, Prophet Andrew Wutaunashe, who is Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s kingmaker, has revealed he has been deserted by large crowds of followers in Botswana — a stunning fallout following a scandal over his demands for a brand-new car from his congregation last Christmas.
Wutaunashe made the announcement during an emotional sermon on Sunday, April 27, 2025- in Francistown, admitting that not only had ordinary church members left him, but also Archbishop Kuleletse, the leading bishop of his Botswana church, had formally cut ties.
In a lengthy and prayer-laden address, Wutaunashe tried to console his remaining flock:
“Archbishop Kuleletse felt that he should leave us,” Wutaunashe said. “I personally thought that he shouldn’t, but he said that he felt that is what God wants him to do… but we might just pray for him; keep on loving him.”
The dramatic collapse in support follows a major exposé by the ZimEye news network, which revealed how Wutaunashe had demanded a brand-new vehicle from his poor Botswana congregation — to be delivered within four months — at a time when he was also condemning Western nations for supposedly lacking compassion for the needy.
In his Christmas sermon last December, Wutaunashe had declared his expectation:
“I know all the bishops love me… so at Easter camp next year, the bishops will give me a car… I won’t tell them what type, otherwise they will be in shock.”
The ZimEye exposé triggered widespread anger, particularly among Botswana citizens, who felt betrayed by a leader they once trusted. Members accused him of exploiting their loyalty while living lavishly at their expense.
Andrew Wutaunashe speaking at the weekend
A Church in Crisis
In his Sunday sermon, Wutaunashe tried to frame the mass desertions as part of a divine process:
“Don’t worry about sons who go away; they will always come back… even Jesus went away from his Father but came back.”
Despite the hopeful rhetoric, the departure of Archbishop Kuleletse is seen as a massive blow to Wutaunashe’s operations in Botswana, a country that was once a stronghold for his regional influence.
The preacher, visibly shaken, launched into a prayer asking for blessings on Kuleletse’s new path and encouraged his remaining followers to rebuild the Francistown church “to a greater later glory.”
Wutaunashe also took the opportunity to pray for the Zimbabwean government, notably for Emmerson Mnangagwa, urging divine intervention to “bring to completion” what he called Mnangagwa’s “work of peace and progress.”
Meanwhile:
Latest revelations suggest that at the time of writing another compounding scandal involving a still to be named son of a bishop who was at the time ofthe desertion having an affair with the wife of another senior church leader.
Looking Ahead
As Wutaunashe struggles to rebuild in Francistown, questions remain about his broader credibility across Southern Africa, especially amid rising scrutiny of self-styled prophets and their financial dealings. Whether he can recover from this scandal remains to be seen.