Church told to 'pray for leadership and peace'

CHURCHES should pray for peace and the country's leadership for development to take place, the national coordinator of local bishops Reverend Albert Mleya, has said.

Speaking at a prayer meeting in Harare yesterday, Rev Mleya said they are conducting prayers to ensure that peace and development prevails.

"When we started this programme of prayers in October last year, the primary and specific goals were to ensure that we pray for peace, development, economic revival. We must pray that God intervenes in all our problems.

"We are praying for our nation, we are praying for our leadership, we are praying for President Mnangagwa; we are praying for the First Lady Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa, the entire Cabinet and everybody in leadership positions," said Rev Mleya.

The calls for supplication come at a time when the country is under a renewed onslaught from both internal and external detractors who have roped in some church groups to sully the image of the Second Republic.

Federation for Indigenous Churches of Zimbabwe (FICZ) secretary-general Reverend Mathias Tsine said instead of throwing spanners in the works being carried out by Government, churches must work with the Government. FICZ is an ecclesiastical umbrella body whose membership is drawn from Apostolic Pentecostal and Zion churches.

"We thank the Government for considering the basic needs of indigenous churches such as land to establish places of assembly, schools, and institutions of higher learning, hospitals, orphanage and other colonial imbalances within the religious circles," said Rev Tsine.

He commended the Government for recognising the role played by churches in nation-building. Rev Tsine said that the organisation stands on cardinal, provable facts, forensic evidence and keeps itself abreast with social, political, economic and religious developments in the country.

"It is imperative, for it to be the voice of its own constituency who are its opinion makers, they deserve feedback through relevant channels.

"We appreciate the enactment of the law of the land upon the attainment of independence in 1980 pronouncing freedom of worship, which is also aligned to the United Nations charter on the universal Declaration of human rights," he said.

He said that the churches applauded the Government's commitment to fight the global pandemic Covid-19 putting in place lockdown measures and resting marches organised by the country's detractors.

"We applaud the Government for its consistent to ensure that the scourge of Covid-19 remains under control, including such measures as lockdown, curfew and banning marches, and demonstrations that are likely to cause a spike in cases and hotspots,".

Turning to the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe Rev Tsine said they severely adulterated the rule of law, which have taken their toll with no regard to creed, religion, and gender.

"They have still been unable to achieve their set goals, instead they have had a negative impact on the rights and well-being of ordinary people, various churches and members are not spared," he said.

The indigenous churches, he said have no obligation to inscribe and hold placards in the name of street protests in whatever form or assume the role of judges, interfering with judicial process to protect law breakers in a way to appease insatiable endeavours. He further said Government has a mandate to restrain evil saying a religious body is not an equal partner of the Government, but its constituency falls directly on its membership. T

he Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) Original 2009 Bishop Solomon Magwani said their association is committed to working with the Government in nation building.

Politically, Bishop Mangwani said ACCZ Original 2009 is a non-partisan, but patriotic and nationalistic entity that is proudly Zimbabwean. As an organisation, he said they support the Government of the day as a matter of policy.

He added that their organisation's approach to the Government and other stakeholders is engagement rather than confrontation.

"We encourage the people of Zimbabwe to cherish and adore constructive engagement in place of fighting, which is destructive rather than constructive," he said.

"Extensive engagement should always characterise our process whenever we see things differently Bishop Veronica Kwati of Joanne Masowe eChishanu said Zimbabweans should cherish each other and pray for the nation to ensure peace prevails in the country.