Harare - A leaked audio recording allegedly featuring prominent preacher Apostle Batsirai Java has set social media ablaze, triggering fierce debate over businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei’s grip on ZANU-PF and claims of a looming plot to sideline Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
Both Java brothers have strongly denied the audio’s authenticity, branding it fake or AI-generated. But MopaneNews ran the clip through three different AI voice detectors, and all confirmed the voices were 99 percent human, with no signs of synthetic generation or cloning.
The roughly 33-minute recording, which went viral on May 27, appears to capture a private phone call between a journalist and a man purported to be Apostle B Java, founder of ABJ Ministries and Tabernacle of Grace Church. In the clip, the speaker recounts details allegedly shared by his brother, flamboyant prophet Passion Java, after a meeting with Tagwirei.
Tagwirei is a ZANU-PF Central Committee member with vast interests in fuel, mining, and other sectors. “I’m a kingmaker. Most of the decisions made by mdara, (Mnangagwa) they do actually come through me. I do meetings with mdara about twice a week. We discuss economic issues, we discuss political issues and everything,” the voice says, quoting Tagwirei.
The speaker claims Tagwirei described himself as “the most powerful person in government after Mnangagwa, even though he is outside government.”
In another explosive claim, the audio alleges Tagwirei told prominent preacher Emmanuel Makandiwa: “I’m the next president of Zimbabwe.”
The recording references alleged plans to push Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3, (CAB3) sideline VP Chiwenga, and reshape the presidium with “young leadership.”
“CAB3 is over. It’s going to be voted by parliament, and the president is just going to sign, on the behest that the president cannot go against parliament. Parliament is representing people. And once it’s law, there’ll be a campaign to bring young leadership into the presidium. That will be the next war. Right now we can’t fight two wars; we can’t fight the war of the general’s dissension and the war on CAB3 at the same time. We have to fight one war at a time,” the audio states.
It adds: “Next on the plan, the war will be against the general because he is ‘proving to be a problem’.” The speaker also name-drops other politically connected figures, including Wicknell Chivayo and Scott Sakupwanya, painting a web of business, religious, and political elites.
The audio appears to have been recorded shortly before Tagwirei’s son’s wedding last weekend. The speaker notes the guest list would read like a “who’s who in government.”
“Everyone will be there except general. Including mdara will be there,” the recording says.
Both brothers swiftly distanced themselves. Apostle Batsirai Java released a video statement: “I am not the person in that audio. This is my voice, this is me speaking, and I am not even in communication with the person who is at the end of that audio.”
Prophet Passion Java, speaking from the United States, called the audio fake and possibly AI-generated or politically motivated. He denied any recent meetings with Tagwirei and reaffirmed support for President Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF.
“I never had any meetings with Mr Tagwirei… Some of the names mentioned, I don’t even know the people,” he said.
Government circles are reportedly on high alert over a spike in leaked and allegedly staged audios, viewing them as tools to sow division in the ruling party.
Reactions have been polarized. Some users treat the claims as credible proof of elite maneuvering, while others dismiss the recording as fabricated propaganda to destabilize ZANU-PF.
Tagwirei has repeatedly denied harboring presidential ambitions, despite his growing influence in ZANU-PF. In a rare 2022 interview with The Sunday Mail, Tagwirei said: “I am a businessman. I support the President and ZANU-PF. I have no political ambitions. People must stop dragging me into succession politics.”
He echoed the same position in 2023 after being co-opted into the ZANU-PF Central Committee: “My role is to help the party and government deliver on the economic front. I am not a politician and I am not contesting for any position.”
Tagwirei has maintained that his meetings with President Mnangagwa focus on “economic recovery, investment, and empowerment,” not party politics.
He has never publicly commented on CAB3 or succession.