Word Impact Ministries Pastor Godfrey Kudita’s Son Remanded Over Cousin Rape Scandal

The son of Word Impact Ministries pastor Godfrey Kudita has been remanded in custody following allegations that he repeatedly sexually assaulted his teenage cousin while the two were living in South Africa.

Godfrey Junior, 30, appeared before Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa after being charged with multiple counts of rape. Although prosecutors had agreed to his release on bail, the magistrate ordered him to remain in custody until September 16.

Gofa directed him to explain why the court should endorse the State’s consent to bail.

The alleged victim, who is 16, cannot be named because she is a minor and is reportedly a victim of a sexual offence.

According to the State, the accused and the girl are cousins who were staying at her parents’ home in South Africa in February last year. Her parents later travelled to India for medical treatment, leaving the teenager, her two brothers, Godfrey Junior and a domestic worker at the house.

Prosecutors allege that, a few days after the parents’ departure, Godfrey Junior introduced the teenager to drugs. He allegedly showed her pornographic material before having sexual intercourse with her without her consent on several occasions between February and June.

The alleged abuse reportedly ended when the girl’s grandmother travelled to South Africa to visit the family.

The case came to light after the teenager wrote to her grandmother, detailing what she claimed had happened. She later told her mother after the woman returned from India in July last year. However, no immediate report was made to the police.

The teenager returned to Zimbabwe with her mother on September 3 this year. A police report was filed four days later.

She subsequently underwent a medical examination, and prosecutors are expected to produce the medical affidavit as part of the evidence.