Giving testimony at Lusaka Magistrates Court, Zambia, in a case where his wife, Ella was allegedly raped by a cleric, John General, the 33-year old Allen Best gave a graphic narration of the incident.
According to Zambia Observer, the man said he no-longer found his wife appetizing after she was touched by another man such that, he reached to an extent of sending her packing to her parents’ home.
Appearing before the magistrate, Amy Masoja, the man said his wife of six years had been having difficulties in conceiving a child, and they have been having misunderstandings owing to pressure from family members and the community.
He said sometime in 2022, his wife had an ectopic pregnancy and has been having miscarriages every time she fell pregnant, to which she thought the condition was spiritual and decided to seek for prayers to heal the medical condition.
The man said on November 22, 2023 his car developed a fault with the fuel pump and he had to visit his friend for some spare parts and he went back home after an hour only to be greeted by whimpers from his wife.
“When I reached home, I opened the main gate and found a black car.
“I thought there was a guest at home.
“I entered the house and I found a man sitting in the living room. The stranger greeted me and asked how work was.”
“I walked behind the brown sofa where he sat. I thought my wife was in the kitchen or outside because when there’s a male visitor, my wife can’t be in the same room with male guest.
“When I walked through the passage, near bedroom doors, I heard voices of a man and my wife’s voice from the spare bedroom,” he said.
He said he heard the man order his wife to spread her legs wide and not to waste his time while she cried asking him to leave her alone.
“I entered the room, I found my wife lying on the bed, and a man was on top of my wife, having sex with her.
“I asked, “What is happening here? They were in the act. The man (John General) then shouted! Bring a gun we shoot him.
“They both had a jump scare in bed after I asked what was happening,” the man said.
The witness said whilst Nundwe was still naked with his clothes beside the bed, he rushed out to arm himself with anything that would separate his head from his naked body when he threatened to shoot him.
“When I went back to the sitting room, the henchman had run away. I thought he had gone outside to get a gun where the car was parked.
“I also went outside and noticed that the gate was open. The man was nowhere to be seen.
“I locked the gate so that I could open for the dogs and check on the naked man,” he stated.
“I looked at the veranda and I saw the man I left in the house running naked. I ran after him thinking he would use the gate, but I saw him jumping over the fence.
“I came out of my yard and went behind the fence at the exit point, but I did not find him,” the witness said.
“I then went to my wife who was crying. I asked her to compose herself and tell me what happened. She told me that she had informed me that Bishop John General would come.
“I had told her that the day he comes, I needed to be around. I wondered which day he was supposed to come. She told me that the Bishop phoned her and told her he wanted to come home to pray for us. My wife then gave him directions.”
He said he asked his wife why she did not inform him about the preacher’s visit and she said she thought he (John General) would find him home hence the reason she accepted that he visit their house.
“I asked why they started having sex intercourse instead of prayers, and she said he told her that he wanted to pray for the rooms.
“She said that the Bishop needed to check if someone had already prayed for the rooms. She told me that she directed him to the rooms and when they reached the girls bedroom, she said she wanted to go and get a Bible, the accused then called her,” the witness narrated.
“My wife moved from the master’s bedroom to the spare bedroom. She said when she entered the room, she found the Bishop naked.
“She said when she wanted to run away, the man in the living room pushed her back in the bedroom and John General shoved her on the bed and had her.”
The man said according to his wife, Nundwe had threatened to kill her and did not know that he visited their home with intentions to sexually assault her.
He said he reported the issue to the police and the headman.
The man recounted that some church members called Nundwe’s phone which he had left behind and he picked it up to inform them what transpired and the members flocked his home.
“The church members were led to the car to prove that it was their pastor’s and we also went to the room where the pastor’s clothes were.
“I showed them the clothes and where the accused slept. I also showed them a blood stain on the blanket. My wife was on her periods,” he said.
“My wife was crying at the time and when asked if she could explain, she said she couldn’t.
“At the police, we were asked to go to UTH. Doctors said we can only collect results accompanied by a police report after three weeks.
“We later went to get the results, they were in a brown envelope and we weren’t told anything. Afterwards, we left.”
He said he received a phone call from Nundwe’s emissary and best friend Christopher Kunda who begged for forgiveness on behalf of the friend.
“I earlier received calls alleging that I and my wife wanted to trap the pastor. I warned them not to test me.
“After the incident, my wife and I never had sex. I had even reached an extent where I wanted her to go back to her parents but we were counseled,” the witness said.
“We started having sex after four months.
“My wife told me she knew him through Facebook when people testified that through him barren women have children and he would raise the dead, the lame would walk and the sick would be healed.
“I allowed her to be watching Nundwe, as you know when a woman has no child, there is no peace and she started making efforts to meet the Bishop.”
He said his wife had paid the papa K1,000 to schedule an appointment and in the meantime she was given anointing oil and water and was asked to drink the oil and water thrice a day.
The witness added that Nundwe had told his wife to change their matrimonial bed and promised to visit their home for prayers but instead the prayer session resulted in rape.
“It was embarrassing to our parents and us. I even stopped going for work as I was ashamed. People were talking and I felt like it had just happened.
“At present, I am okay even though I wasn’t okay then, I managed to move around because the issue has cooled down,” said the woman’s husband.
Masoja adjourned the case for further hearing.
(Photo illustration courtesy of Saturday Tribune)
