Harare — Prominent cleric and Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (Zaoga) church founder Ezekiel Guti is dead.

His passing was announced by his Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA) church, which he founded in May, 1960.

"It is with heavy hearts and deep sorrow that we announce the promotion to great glory of our dearly beloved spiritual father, visionary and iconic leader Archbishop Ezekiel Handinawangu Guti. He peacefully departed from this world today, Wednesday, July 5, 2023," ZAOGA national chairperson Apostle Joseph Guti said in a televised announcement.

"He has transitioned to be with his Lord and master whom he faithfully and sacrificially served for over eight decades," he said.

One of the largest churches in Zimbabwe, his ZAOGA church, also known as Forward in Faith Ministries International, was founded in Bindura, Zimbabwe, under a gum tree, but as of 2023, is now in over 140 nations and states.

Guti was 100.

During the celebration of his 100th birthday in May, 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other Christian denominational leaders praised Guti for being one of Zimbabwe's most well-known early practitioners of indigenous Pentecostal evangelism.

Mnangagwa said Mbuya Dorcas Hospital, the Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University, Ezekiel Television, and the Dress Making Training Centres, as well as primary and secondary schools owned by the church, are impacting positively on the lives and livelihoods of communities.

In December, 2017, one of Guti's sons, Evangelist Ezekiel Guti Junior, died in South Africa where he battled for his life in Intensive Care Unit after he nearly drowned in a swimming pool on Christmas day.