The video was taken on Sunday, September 23rd 2018 at the Zion Temple Church in Gatenga, Kigali City, where Gitwaza was preaching a sermon themed “The Symptoms of the Miracles.”
In the video, he is heard saying; “I don’t know if there is a prophet superior to me in this country. What I am telling you is not boasting and may God forgive me if there is a small boastful character inside me. I don’t know if in this country, or in Africa you have a prophet like me. It is possible that he will come up but in present times while I am still alive, you will never see him. Look for one for me and let me know when you find him.”
Gitwaza spoke those words after narrating trials he passed through which saw him being called a thief, adulterer, witch doctor and so many names but, he says, kept spreading the gospel and won through it all.
He said that if people don’t admit he is the superior prophet today, they will admit that after his death.
“I tell you the truth, you will know after I am gone. I will be believed in other places. I have a big role in the reconstruction of this country. Like [Prophet] Ezeckiel, I prophesized that bones would return to life and no other person would; or faced the battles I faced,” Gitwaza added.
The video evoked a lot of discussions and controversy in newspapers and on social platforms.
Not all Christian religions believe in prophets who are not mentioned in the Bible. For those who believe in them [prophets], a prophet is a “person who is believed to have a special power that allows them to say what a god wishes to tell people, especially about things that will happen in the future,” as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary.
IGIHE has talked to different religious leaders from Rwanda who said how they received Dr. Gitwaza’s words.
The Spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Rwanda who also doubles as the Bishop of Butare Diocese, Philippe Rukamba said they don’t believe in prophecies.
He said, “There are things you may believe like visions that can happen, but we also believe in them a little. Like for the Kibeho Visions to be believed in the Catholic Church, it took at least 25 years.”
Bishop Marguerite Rwandamura, the Pastor in United Christian Church, Gikondo Branch, Kigali, said that in their church, they believe in prophecies but that she does not know what one bases on to say one prophet is the superior to the other.
“I don’t argue with him over being a prophet, but I can’t know his superiority because I am not God. What I only believe is that prophets live and there are true and false prophecies,” she said.
Bishop Simon Masasu Murekezi of the Restoration Church in Rubavu District told IGIHE that as for their church, they believe in prophecies but it is false to say there is super prophet than others.
Masasu said, “That one [Gitwaza] is in self deceiption. The Bible talks about the five callings and they complement each other. A Man of God is the one who is humble and understands; he accepts advice and knows that when God gives him a message, he needs the Holy Spirit’s help to deliver it successfully.”
Masasu added that it is impossible for a man to be a prophet and an apostle at the same.
“Why does he [Gitwaza] call himself an apostle and a prophet? You understand that he is mixing two things. There would be a little falsehood then. Prophets lived and they still live and it is not only him alone,” Masasu added.
Zeraphath Holy Church Leader, Bishop Jean Bosco Harerimana said that no prophet praises himself but only those who see his miracles know him.
“Elijah once told God that he was the only prophet remaining and God told him ‘you are lying, there are other thousands of prophets after. God immediately asked him to finish his mission and to anoint his successor Elishah who would end his journey,” Bishop Harerimana recounted.
Harerimana said that whenever someone starts praising himself in Gospel mission, it is a sign that he is starting to get tired.
“What you do is what earns you praises and when you start praising yourself in the gospel mission, then you are starting to fail,” Harerimana explained.
It is not the first time that Gitwaza has raised controversy following his prophecies.
In 2015, Gitwaza prophesied on the end of the world which never came to pass.
Gitwaza later turned around and denied having prophesied the end of the world.
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