Gumbura’s wives hang on, 2 years later

By Tendai Kamhungira

Despite their husband currently serving a 40-year jail term, the 11 wives of Independent End Time Message founder Robert Martin Gumbura, say they will hang on as a sign of love to the incarcerated clergyman.

In an interview with the Daily News on Sunday, Gumbura’s second wife Queen Bunga, who acts as the women’s spokesperson, said even though they have their husband’s blessings to move on, none among the 11 is considering that route.

“We are all still here, waiting for our husband and I can confirm that nobody has left, even though our husband gave us permission to leave,” a relaxed Bunga said.

Since Gumbura’s incarceration two years ago on rape charges rumours have been swirling — with some even claiming that one of the wives had eloped to another man.

However, Bunga said they will wait until their husband returns.

Gumbura’s rape case was a stuff of legends and catapulted him to the limelight, albeit for bad reasons.

During his trial, Gumbura’s wives stood by him up until the day he was finally locked up — following a lengthy trial.

Many thought that with the husband gone the family would collapse.

Bunga spoke passionately about her husband, further making it clear that the family is still intact, as the women remain resident at the family’s Harare home.

Just like the good old days when they would one after the other see him every night, the women have never stopped taking turns to visit their husband at Chikurubi Maximum Prison.

“So we are going there everyday. We take turns to visit our husband and also allow other relatives to visit him as well,” she said.

Bunga said the women recently brought a cake for their husband on his birthday in July, simply to celebrate with him and show them their unbridled love.

“Baba turned 60, on July 29, and we bought him a very nice cake, you should have seen it, it was beautiful.

“You should also come one day and see the kind of food that we take to him to show that we are still in love with him,” Bunga said.

She said some of the women leave home to visit their relatives but that did not mean that they had left for good.

In November last year, the women granted our sister paper the Weekend Post an exclusive opportunity to visit their home for an interview.

During the interview, all the 11 wives were present and they vowed that they were going to wait until the day their husband would remove the prison garb.

All the women said they were waiting for their husband, whom they said is incomparable to any other man.

During the interview, they expressed confidence that one day their husband would be released and they would be a family again.

The eldest of Gumbura’s wives is now 55, while the youngest is only 27, but all the women expressed satisfaction with the clergyman, who has remained famous two years after his incarceration.

Despite the super dad being criticised and branded names by members of the public, his conviction is still a subject of controversy.

He has since appealed against the conviction and sentence in a matter that is still pending before the High Court.

It still waits to be seen if his wives’ prayers will be answered, so that they once again live with their husband, whom they touted as more than a man who cannot be compared to anyone. Daily News