By Staff Reporter
A Harare senior pastor with Upper Room Ministries, Reverend Berry Dambaza’s death has left many among his followers shocked after he reportedly committed suicide.
Dambaza, a lunch time preacher is allegedly to have driven his car and parked at Parkade along Julius Nyerere Avenue, in Harare, just a street away from his church before he jumped off from the third floor, cracking his head.
Details and circumstances of the incident were not immediately clear, amid speculation that he had financial problems, while unconfirmed reports pointed to infidelity. Social media was awash with news that the cause of the death was infidelity, but it is allegedly that it was all lies as his wife was not even around when he committed suicide.
Comments on social media especially from women bemoaned the cruelty of social media and the scandalisation of women in relationships, siting the unfortunate marring of the name of the surviving wife where lies are being spread of infidelity when the wife was not even at the scene.
“You see how people always scandalise women, even when men create their own problems the wife is always blamed. Look at the unfortunate story being spread when the woman was not even there and she was called later on, now she’s mourning her husband and people have no mercy to peddle lies about her” said another woman in a WhatsApp group.
Dambaza died on the spot and people had to call the police to attend and the body was taken to a local mortuary for post-mortem.
Investigations to establish the circumstances leading to his death were still in progress and the national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.
“We can confirm that a church pastor allegedly jumped from the last floor of Rezende Parkade and died.We are currently investigating the case to establish the motive or the reasons behind this suicide,” he said.
Dambaza is survived by his wife Sithembeni Dambaza, who is an assistant pastor at the church. They have two daughters (Oreen and Oretha) and two sons (Osborne and Oracle).
Reverend Dambaza graduated in 1984 from the Pentecostal Bible College now known as Pan African Christian College (PACC) in Harare. Meanwhile, the social media is awash with condolence messages with prominent people saying that they had lost a father, teacher and a counsellor.
He is being mourned by those whose lives he touched, and many will remain with desperate questions to how the man of God could not have found support and help to survive whatever his troubles. Some of his followers though declare him their hero, the father of faith and has taught them so much that has improved their lives.
Meanwhile, the rate of suicide in Zimbabwe in recent months has been increasing in which it might be reflected by economic hardships and the growing of domestic violence. The increase in suicides by men has been heightened by economic strain and several other social triggers
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