Christian rapper facing jail over sexual assaults

Firebrand Muchemwa. Picture: contributed

Firebrand Muchemwa attacked two female work colleagues after they had been left alone with him.

Muchemwa – who regularly volunteers as a church vocalist and rapper – pounced on his first victim after she made it clear she did not find him  attractive and only wanted to be friends.

But he ignored her comments and pushed the woman on to a bed before jumping on top of her and molesting her.

The second attack came around one year later when Muchemwa groped a friend  as he helped her write her CV  at his home in Pilton, Edinburgh.

The first attack only came to light after the woman involved in the second assault reported the incident to the police in  October last year.

The rapper, originally from Zimbabwe, admitted making a move on his first victim but denied sexually assaulting her as the pair spent an evening in at her city centre flat.

And the church singer also claimed his second victim had made up her story due to being “jealous” of his success in moving on from a fast food outlet and going to university.

Muchemwa set up the community-based Firebrand Movement in 2011 and claims the project “is a revolutionary movement of providing Hope and Deliverance in people’s lives through music”.

He has been a regular member of the worship team at the Capital’s Destiny Church since 2005.

On Wednesday, both victims gave evidence behind a screen at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where Muchemwa was eventually found guilty of sexually assaulting them on separate occasions.

The court was told Muchemwa and the two women worked together at a popular Edinburgh fast food outlet in the north of the city in 2014.

Sheriff Crowe immediately placed Muchemwa on the sex offenders register for a period yet to be determined and full sentence was deferred to later this month.

Muchemwa was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman by pushing her on to a bed, holding her down, lying on top of her and simulating sexual intercourse between June 1 and July 31, 2014.

He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a second woman by seizing her breasts and buttocks over her clothing at his home address on September 20 last year.

Muchemwa is also known as Christian rap star BigThinker and describes himself as “a conscious singer, rapper and songwriter”.

On his website, he claims to “encourage innovation within the music industry”.

Muchemwa says he chose his rap name because he likes to “think big” and his “creative ideas challenge me to think outside the box”.

The Christian rapper has released one album, Food For Your Soul.