By Charles Mushinga
The ‘Miracle Baby’ formally known as Emmanuel Moffat died on Monday and was buried Tuesday at Warren Hills Cemetery, straight after being whisked from the Beatrice infectious Diseases Hospital (Nazareth) where he had been taken following his death at Harare Hospital.
The miracle baby’s birth was broadcast across the length and breadth of the country as a miracle amidst claims that the mother was only pregnant for three days before giving birth after Prophet Makandiwa had prophesied his birth.
However, the miracle baby’s funeral was a closely guarded affair that saw the baby being whisked from Nazareth to Warren Hills Cemetery with an urgency rarely associated with death.
As a result the cause of death was not established but relatives, who refused to be named, said the baby died of dehydration aged 6 months.
“The baby died yesterday (Monday) after suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting since last week. He was hospitalised on Wednesday at Harare Hospital and was there until his death.
“Thereafter his body was taken to Nazareth and he was taken to Warren Hills for burial straight from Beatrice,” said the relatives who claimed they had no say in how the funeral was handled.
“Everything was being run by church members and they were in a hurry. We would have wanted a proper funeral for our baby. His body must have lied in state to allow the public at large to pay their last respects to the deceased.
“We do not know Prince (the deceased’s father) anymore. He is enjoying the privileges he is getting at UFI too much. We hear they now call him Baba Minana and he is no longer an ordinary member of the church.
“After the media paid too much attention on Emmanuel (miracle baby) following claims that he was dead early this year, Makandiwa bought a five-roomed house for Prince and his family in Kuwadzana- a fully furnished one and he hired a security guard for the baby to be protected 24-7,” said the relatives’ spokesperson.
The claims must be true as the miracle baby’s grave was registered using a Kuwadzana Extension address. The City of Harare charge less for Harare residents and if the family had used their Chitungwiza address (where the baby was born and raised) they would have paid more.
There was no funeral in Zengeza 3 and a commuter omnibus was hired to take Emmanuel’s grandparents and the few relatives that could fit in the vehicle to Warren Hills.
H-Metro was following the proceedings from the body viewing at Nazareth, the cortege’s travel to Warren Hills, the graveside speeches and burial and all this happened in less than 80 minutes.
However an H-Metro crew that was trailing the funeral cortege as they made their way to the burial site was stopped in movie style fashion to ascertain their mission.
A vehicle pulled up in front of the H-Metro car and blocked the road while two other vehicles parked on the side and behind and several men who said they are security personnel for United Family International (UFI) church interrogated the crew.
“Where are you going? Why are you following us? You are not going anywhere until we get the go ahead from Pastor Kufa to release you! They said.
When the crew eventually reached the burial site, the security denied it any interviews with the deceased’s family and kept them far from hearing the graveside speeches.
“Call Pastor Kufa or ticharovana pano. I am not into church, my job (at UFI) is to brat people and if you move towards the grave I will deal with you,” threatened one of the security personnel identified only as Shumba.
H-Metro managed to observe, however, from the permitted distance, that, aside from the deceased’s father, no other relatives spoke at the funeral. Everything was done by church members and the miracle baby’s grandfather, VaMatsenga, was not given a chance to speak.
“Why are they taking so long? MaSpeech ngavanoitira kumba ayo!” said the aforementioned Shumba. Relatives at the gravesite were warned of H-Metro presence and given strict instructions not to talk to the crew.
“We were told that you were around and advised not to let you anywhere near the label with the deceased’s name, dates of birth and death on the grave as is custom because they wanted the whole thing to be top secret.
“One of the guys took the label back into the Kombi and it will only be placed there later because they didn’t want you to take pictures that identified the grave after our departure,” said our mole.
The miracle baby was once rumoured to be dead before his parents invited H-Metro to their Zengeza residence to prove that he was alive and well.
UFI church, through their spokesperson, confirmed receiving the false rumour about the death from the couple and even promised to hold a press conference back in February. However, following the sad, but official, death of the baby everything is shrouded in secrecy.
The miracle baby’s grandparents in February questioned the ‘miracle’ aspect of the late baby’s birth and claimed the mother had previously given birth without showing any signs of pregnancy.
Relatives that spoke to H-Metro expressed the same doubts. No comment could be obtained from UFI at the time of going to print. Pastor Prime Kufakunesu the church’s spokesperson, however, promised to engage H-Metro once he returned to the capital and gotten all the details. H Metro
