Munyeza calls on church to rally behind Mawarire

Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe president Shingi Munyeza has called on the church to rally behind #ThisFlag leader, Evan Mawarire, saying he represents the millions of Zimbabweans bearing the brunt of misrule.

Popular for his social media messages warning Zimbabweans of the tough times ahead, Munyeza yesterday challenged "the church, through its various leadership structures, to come out in the open as a united force and own the initiative by a fellow man of God".

"The truth is his voice is not a loner's voice in the wilderness, it is a voice representing the many subdued voices of the majority of Zimbabweans in cities, townships, villages, growth points, plantations, farms, and from the many sons and daughters of this nation scattered in the Diaspora," he wrote yesterday.

"It is a voice inspired by a godly passion to see justice; it is specifically a perspective of the church expressing the feelings of the nation at large."

He questioned: "But for how long shall it remain a single voice? How long shall we enjoy these 'successes' while we are hiding behind it in passive solidarity?"

Munyeza said Mawarire's voice should be owned openly by all structures of the church.

"I believe the lone voice cannot sustain longer if the church simply obeys as any other person, but remains aloof and fails to openly embrace it so that it becomes the voice of multitudes. A lone voice can be easily silenced, but who can silence the multitudes he represents," he said.

Munyeza also said in another statement that churches were concerned by the apparent disregard of the Constitution by the police and government through the selective application of the law, failure to decisively deal with corruption, exclusion of citizens in determining their destiny and the politicisation of the people's genuine concerns.

"We call upon our government to listen to the cries of citizens, which are loud and clear," the statement signed jointly by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, EFZ and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference, among other influential organisations read.

ZimRights said President Robert Mugabe has allowed State security agents to trample on citizens' rights and questioned his commitment to the protection of civil rights.

In a strongly-worded statement, ZimRights urged Mugabe to urgently respond to people's concerns against corruption, economic collapse, unemployment, lack of democracy and breakdown in the rule of law.

"The government of Zimbabwe has worryingly allowed and even encouraged the law enforcement agencies to act with impunity and trample on people's rights during the recent #Shutdown Zimbabwe protests across the country," the rights watchdog said.