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Windhoek – A Windhoek mother has found herself without a home after a “pastor” convinced her to sell her house for prayers. According to The Namibian, the 50-year-old single mother of four has opened up a case of theft against Agustinus Shinima, a false prophet who tricked her into selling her house and donating the proceeds to him. While relating her story, the victim claimed that Shinima told her that her house was possessed by demons and that something bad would happen to her if she did not sell the property off immediately.

After selling her house for R1.4m, the woman is said to have withdrawn R980,000 to give to the alleged holy man, who then only gave her R15,000 to cover her expenses going forward.

Following the exchange, the victim alleged that Shinima disappeared, switching off his phone and moving away from his “church”. Police, however, finally managed to arrest him, but he claimed that he was not responsible for the victim’s woes.

The suspect claimed that a Congolese witchdoctor had been using his name while in the country and that he was the person who stole the victim’s money. The development followed a call made by a group of local pastors who have joined forces against crimes perpetrated by false prophets.

According to a separate report by The Namibian, a group of ten local pastors had converged in order to table a bill regulating the conduct of pastors in the country. Hoping that the bill would be passed in parliament soon, Ngeno Nakamhela, a pastor from the group, claimed that false prophets were using the name of God to conduct immoral acts against innocent citizens.

“It is sad to see that some churches are involved in the division of family members and fights in households. The church and especially the pastors are there, not only to preach, but to nurture, comfort, correct and protect,” he was quoted as saying. – News24