Zimbabwe: Church Urged To Step Up Peace Crusade As Nation Heads Towards Tense Elections

By Wallace Mawire

Bishop Never Muparutsa, President of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOD) has urged the church in Zimbabwe not to tire of preaching peace as the country heads towards the 2023 National Harmomized elections on 23 August.

Muparutsa made the remarks in a keynote address at the signing of the peace pledge by political parties in Harare,Zimbabwe on 4 August, 2023.The pledge signing ceremony was facilitated by christian denominations which included the Zimbabwe Christian Council (ZCC),Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches and Zionists in Africa (UDACIZA), Evangelical Fellowship of  Zimbabwe (EFZ) and the Zimbabwe Catholics Bishops Conference (ZCBC).

Muparutsa said,”l call upon the church, ypu are the custodians of peaceful living in our country.Let us not tire of preaching peace.The Church is the light and the salt or our nation.”

He made the call to thousands of congregants who thronged the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC)  urging the church to illuminate the country and to give flavor to the country.

The Clergy Bishop also implored the poltical parties and also pleaded with the contesting candidates not to cause God’s children to fight each other.

“We can vote in peace.We have a life after the elections,”Bishop Muparutsa said.

He said that the church in Zimbabwe is taking its prophetic mantle at this crucial moment when  the country is preparing for elections.

He added that it was God’s mandate to his children that they must be ambassadors of peace.Bishop Muparutsa added that the church has a moral and spiritual mandate to convene and to seek peace and pursue it.

He also said that after the elections the church expected peace to still prevail, saying

“Let us not be haste in anger.Let us work together for peace,” Bishop Muparutsa said.

The igning of the peace pledge by political parties initiative was supported by the European Union Delegation to Zimbabwe,the Embassy of Switzerland and the Embassy of Ireland.

Some of the issues Zimbabwe political parties and candidates pledged to include the promotion and full compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates and other stakeholders contained in the Fourth Schedule of the Electoral Act (Chapter2:13) and to individually  and collectively promote a climate of peace and tolerance in all electoral processes and respect the rights of all political parties,candidates and stakeholders to freely assemble,canvas and campaign,just to mention a few.

Some of the parties who signed the pledge include ZANU (PF),Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and the Movement for Democratic Party (MDC),just to mention a few.