Apostolic church holds highways anti-accident intercessory prayer crusades

The Kuera Apostolic Church under Arch-Bishop Honest Mupepe has this Wednesday embarked on an anti-accidents intercessory spiritual prayer crusade against road carnage along major roads, with the inaugural event launched along Harare-Beitbridge major highway.

Speaking during the course of their spiritual journey at Rutenga Business Centre, Arch-Bishop Honest Mupepe described their crusades as critical in cleansing major highways against spiking road traffic accidents.

"We have noted that the Second Republic has made great strides in improving our major roads, but however, regardless of its tireless efforts, accidents have continuously claimed several lives," Mupepe said.

"It is therefore the duty of churches to pray for our roads to be accident-free zones through spiritual prayers which will help in cleansing the roads against bad spirits," Mupepe added.

"Authorities may try everything to curb road carnages including educational awareness campaigns, license withdrawals (revoke), fitness tests, routine inspections; among others, but the solution to road carnage is through these prayers," Mupepe said.

Kuera Apostolic Church's Pastor General, Tauya Mandava concurred that it is high time that indigenous church should join forces with government in arresting road carnages.

"The government has played its part in rehabilitating our major roads, but it is the duty of churches to complement these efforts to pray, fast and spiritually educate motorists and travellers to adhere to all prescribed traffic rules and regulations," Mandava said.

"We have organised this inaugural intercessory prayer crusade to show that enough is enough in connection to road accidents," Mandava added.

Meanwhile, the church's head of Women's Assembly, Mrs Sandra Mupepe has justified their forty-kilometer sectional prayer breaks as symbolising the journey that Israelites embarked on from Egyptian bandage into promised Canaan.

"These respective forty-kilometer sectional prayer break is spiritual in that, we are now passing a phase of high accident concentration into lower or zero concentration. We are moving away from spiking accidents and dedicate ourselves as road users that spiritual submission is the main solution against this scourge," Mupepe said.

"This exercise has been also crucial in showing the world that, women also play critical role in arresting road carnage. It is also important to note that, road accidents need a multi-stakeholders approach to resolve it," Mupepe remarks.

According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, an average of five people die on Zimbabwean roads everyday through road traffic accidents which occur every 15 minutes.

While appearing before parliamentary portfolio committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer, Munesu Munodawafa confirmed that on average, 38 people are injured in accidents daily.

Statistics has it showing that, the highest number of casualties are aged between 25 and 45 years.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) said that, most of the accidents occurred on the country's major highways are as a result of speeding, inattention, overtaking errors, overloading, misjudgment, following too closely and recklessness on the part of drivers.

Before their Wednesday intercessory prayer crusades and journey to Beitbridge, the Kuera Apostolic Church issued a notice to relevant authorities including the Home Affairs Ministry and Zimbabwe Republic Police's Commissioner General, Godwin Matanga.