Harare – Prominent Zimbabwean journalist Owen Madondo, popularly known as DJ Ollah 7, has been arrested and is currently in custody at Harare Central police station, facing charges of cyberbullying and harassment. The arrest stems from a controversial podcast interview he conducted with musician Holy Ten, born Mukudzei Chitsama, which contained explosive allegations against gospel musician Mudiwa Hood and Uebert Angel, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador-at-Large to Europe and the Americas.
The complainant in the case is Mudiwa Hood, born Ian Mutandwa, who alleges that Madondo, through the podcast, humiliated, harassed, and bullied him. Police allege that Madondo violated Section 164B of the Data Protection Act, Chapter 11:12. The incident occurred on March 21, 2025, at Rainbow Towers hotel.
Police alleged that Madondo reposted the interview on his YouTube account and X “with intention to humiliate and degrade Mudiwa Hood of his stature and character on the social media, community and globally at large”.
The saga began when Holy Ten, during the live-streamed podcast on Facebook, made startling claims against Mudiwa Hood, alleging that he took a gun and condoms to church. Holy Ten has also made explosive allegations against Uebert Angel, claiming that Angel repeatedly asked him to find young women for his personal pleasure.
Holy Ten also recalled a disturbing incident during a visit to Angel’s church, where he alleges that Mudiwa Hood showed him a gun and then revealed a stash of condoms from his bag. “I swear I will never go back to that church again. You can even ask my crew. Those people are not who they claim to be,” he declared.
“I was first inspired to pray by Uebert Angel. I used to watch his sermons. But for him to turn into someone who asks me to find ‘slay queens’ was the worst thing ever,” Holy Ten shared during the podcast. The rapper revealed his shock and disappointment, stating that what was once an inspiration had now turned into a source of distress.
In his warned and cautioned statement, Madondo denied the charges, maintaining that he was simply carrying out his duties as a journalist.
“I vehemently deny the allegations in toto and will put the State to the strictest of proof to each and every allegation thereof. Interviewing HolyTen — Mukudzeyi Chitsama as a journalist is part of my lawful duties and can never be criminalised. I deny ever conniving with Holy Ten as alleged because we never recited the questions and answers prior to the podcast and I never had any question concerning complainant Mudiwa or Angel on my list of questions. I thus had no intention to commit the said offence.”
Madondo argued that Mudiwa Hood should be directing his complaint at Holy Ten, not him. “Complaining against me is simply being disingenuous on Mudiwa’s part because he is coming after me yet the person who made the utterances, which offended him and claims to have evidence was Holy Ten and not me,” he added.
“His assertion has not even been investigated. Prosecuting an innocent journalist like me in this case may set a very bad and dangerous precedence. This may amount to abuse of the justice delivery system.”
Madondo is set to appear in court on Monday. According to reports, Holy 10 is the first accused in the case but at the time of writing he was still on the run.
DJ Ollah 7, a former Star FM presenter, addressed the issue on Facebook, maintaining that he was simply doing his job as a journalist. “I will never evade the police, I’m a law abiding citizen and an accredited journalist who is simply doing his job. Sending death threats to me will not make it easier. Why not face a person who even asked to be sued publicly because he said he has the evidence?”
He insisted that those angered by Holy Ten’s remarks should direct their grievances at the rapper rather than targeting him.
In a post on X, Ollah 7 responded to Mudiwa saying; “To be honest my bro, the person you should be facing is Holy 10 and publicly stated that he stands with everything he said not me. I’m only a journalist and I wasn’t there when you guys met. All I can do is to give you the same platform to give us your side.”
The arrest of Ollah 7 has however been condemned by some as being similar to the arrest of HStv journalist Blessed Mhlanga who was arrested over his interview with militant war veteran Blessed Geza who demanded President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s resignation.
The lawsuit, filed on March 20, 2025, alleges that Holy Ten’s statements were untrue, malicious, and defamatory, resulting in financial loss and damage to Mama Vee’s reputation. Mama Vee’s legal representative, Sadowera Kuwana, stated that Holy Ten had repeatedly used the term “ngochani” to refer to his client.
These allegations come two years after Uebert Angel was implicated in the Al Jazeera Gold Mafia documentary, which exposed illegal gold smuggling and money laundering schemes operating in Southern Africa. In the documentary, Angel was secretly recorded bragging about his ability to launder over US$1 billion, exploiting his diplomatic immunity.
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