When the Altar Cloaks a Monster: The Untold Story Behind the Murder of Tathokoza Salimu

TIYENI MALAWIANS EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION

Behind the pulpit of the Fountain of Victory Church in Lilongwe sat a man revered by hundreds as a lead pastor and prophet. But behind the sacred vows, the prophecies, and the holy declarations, a chilling investigative trail of evidence reveals a saga of long-term manipulation, physical violence, financial theft, and calculated murder.

For years, the victim—31-year-old Tathokoza Salimu, a vibrant Praise Team member at Fountain of Victory Church in Lilongwe who held a prestigious position heading a major department at FDH Bank in Dzaleka—lived in the shadow of a toxic, off-and-on relationship with her lead pastor, Bishop Medran Chirwa. The relationship began when Tathokoza was just 22 years old. 

Insiders and former partners have since broken their silence to expose the Bishop’s hidden life. A woman who previously dated the pastor confided directly in our investigative team, describing him as a deeply manipulative predator. 

Tathokoza herself had previously confided in a close friend about a traumatic sexual assault, revealing that a high-ranking church leader had raped her, though out of fear and reverence for the church, she did not name the pastor to her friend at the time. Even while Tathokoza lived in Dzaleka, the Bishop frequently made trips to her residence, keeping her tethered to him despite the turbulent nature of their relationship.

Tathokoza herself had previously confided in a close friend about a traumatic sexual assault.

The events directly preceding Tathokoza’s death demonstrate an escalating physical threat. On September 20, 2026—the night before her murder—the Bishop arrived at her residence in Dzaleka. A heated altercation broke out inside the house between the Bishop and Tathokoza, escalating into a violent physical fight. The violence became so intense that Tathokoza’s home security guard had to rush inside the house to physically separate them before further harm could be done.

At the time of her murder, Tathokoza was preparing for a well-deserved break. She had taken an official holiday from her position at FDH Bank and withdrawn her personal savings in foreign currency, carefully sealed inside envelopes in her purse, intending to travel outside Malawi. 

On September 21, 2026, the fateful day of her murder, the Bishop returned to her residence in Dzaleka. According to official statements from the security guard, the Bishop picked Tathokoza up at her home, and she departed with him in her own vehicle, a black Subaru Impreza.

Hours later, on September 21, 2026, motorists and passers-by noticed the black Subaru Impreza parked along the roadside with its engine still running at Chinkhota Village, near Tatolonga Bridge along the Dzaleka–Dowa Boma Road. Inside, slumped on the passenger seat in a pool of blood, lay Tathokoza Salimu, motionless. Medical examinations later revealed she suffered a penetrating gunshot wound to her neck that damaged her C2–C3 spinal region. 

Tathokoza Salimu was found in a pool of blood inside her vehicle with a gun shot wound to her neck.

When investigators examined her belongings inside the vehicle, her driver’s licence, smartphone, and FDH Bank teller identification card were still intact inside her purse, but the envelopes containing all her foreign currency savings had been stolen, leaving no trace of the money behind.

When law enforcement arrived at the scene and began piecing together the timeline, it was Tathokoza’s security guard who provided the crucial lead, instructing detectives to investigate the Bishop’s actions since he was the last person to pick her up from her home alive. 

As police opened their investigation, the Bishop launched a desperate attempt to evade capture. Immediately following the murder, he shaved both his head and his beard to alter his appearance. He discarded his mobile devices, switched to new phone numbers and handsets, and fled hundreds of kilometers north to Karonga. However, police detectives tracked his digital trail using mobile network signal analysis, where telecommunication tower records placed the Bishop’s phone in direct proximity to Tathokoza’s phone throughout her final hours, establishing beyond doubt that he was the last person in her presence before her death. Detectives subsequently tracked the Bishop to Karonga, where he was formally arrested.

Was arrested in Karonga. Bishop Medran Chirwa.

As detectives investigated the Bishop’s personal affairs further, they uncovered a startling web of deceit involving Tathokoza’s own family. Unbeknownst to Tathokoza, the Bishop had simultaneously been dating a distant relative of hers. On the exact day police closed in on the Bishop in Karonga, this second relative was preparing to travel from Blantyre to Lilongwe to meet him. As she boarded her transport in Blantyre, she sent messages to the Bishop asking about their upcoming meeting in Lilongwe, to which the Bishop sent back a chilling confession, stating that the police would arrest him that day. When the relative pressed him, asking what was happening and stating that she was about to start off from Blantyre, the Bishop simply replied asking her to pray for him because God is good. 

Shortly thereafter, she discovered the devastating truth that the man she was traveling to meet had just been arrested in Karonga for the murder of her relative, Tathokoza Salimu.

The exploitation extended far beyond romantic betrayal. Investigations revealed that yet another distant relative of Tathokoza, living in the United Kingdom, had been sending 1,000 pounds every single month directly to Fountain of Victory Church to fund its activities and operations, unknowingly bankrolling the very institution and leader who was systematically abusing and ultimately murdered their relative.

The accused was captured seated at court premises. Picture Credit: Nation online

Today, October 9, 2026, the accused man of God was brought before the Mkukula Magistrate’s Court in Dowa under heavy security to formally face a charge of murder under Section 209 of the Penal Code. Reading the gravity of the offense, the presiding Magistrate formally charged Bishop Medran Chirwa with murder and committed the case to the High Court for trial, as the Magistrate’s Court lacks jurisdiction to try capital offenses. The Magistrate ordered that Bishop Medran Chirwa be remanded to Maula Prison in Lilongwe as he awaits his trial before the High Court.

Justice for Tathokoza Salimu has officially begun.