by Gideon Madzikatidze/Simbarashe Sithole
HARARE – Indigenous churches have pledged to complement government’s efforts in arresting road carnage, ending early child marriages and drugs abuse, claiming that they have ethical, moral and spiritual obligations to ensure lives are saved.
Speaking during a week long women’s fellowship, thanksgiving and stakeholders engagement Conference, The United Apostolic Faith Church’s, (TUAFC), Bishop (Mrs) Wine Chiteto announced that it is obligatory for clergy to be actively involved in moral governance and the campaign against any community rot.
“Despite the government’s tireless efforts in ending road carnage surge, churches are also obliged to ensure they regularly complement campaign against such traffic abnormality genuine engagement with possible offenders. As churches, we have ethical, spiritual and moral duty to ensure lives are saved,” Chiteto said.
Also worth noting is that, “During our annual festivities and other related mass gatherings, church leaders should be encouraged to ensure that all their membership left early and avoid night driving which is oftentimes associated with poor visibilities. After these gatherings, we only overcome fatigue by safely parking at designated lay-bye and rest or sleep, not forcing drivers to go beyond normal driving periods,” Chiteto added.
Vice General, Samkheliso Tshuma also appealed to churches to engage certified transporters and systems during churches gatherings.
“We are encouraging churches to use approved transport systems and experienced transporters to avoid negligence and use of unroadworthy vehicles which expose congregants or passengers to accident vulnerabilities. Transporters vehicles should travel using governed speed limits to save lives, compliance and adherence to traffic prescriptions should also be prioritised in saving lives, and as churches we need relevant authorities to train our transporters in our churches to arrest road traffic accidents,” Tshuma said.
Apostle Edmore Makotore said it is important for authorities to dispatch traffic safety councillors and officers for training of ambassadors amongst indigenous churches.
“It is high time that as indigenous churches, we kindly appeal to relevant authorities such as Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe to engage and train ambassadors from our churches, including our transporters and other stakeholders to end road carnage. We need them to have slots during our gatherings so that they continue spread the message on fighting road carnages,” Makotore said.
Furthermore, “Due to poverty amongst our churches, you would realise that we deliberately and desperately hire transporters whom we don’t have control over them and some of them spent the whole festival drinking where they will drive while drunk thereby risking passengers’ lives. It is also our duty as churches to campaign against drugs and substances abuse in our communities which will reduce existing societal abnormalities,” Makotore added.
The United Apostolic Faith Church’s founding leader, Arch-bishop Busani Sibanda claimed that there is also need for churches to do counseling and assessments before engaging transporters which indigenous churches use during their gathering.
“It is important to have counseling and assessments before engaging with transporters because these accidents are sometimes caused by socio-economic and psychological (mental) lapses or errors from external pressure where we come from. Stresses and other evil spirits which may be affecting our transporters should not be overlooked, hence the need to have capacity and spiritual discernment requisite,” Sibanda said.
“Drugs and substances abuse have also become rife and supercede our cultural morality and this has impacted on our societal well-being. It is our duty as churches to fight such abnormalities we should train and offer incentives to most of our youths who excel during peer engagements to fight the scourges,” Sibanda added.
Meanwhile, six-year old Ivainashe Makotore has used poetic tribute to Zimbabwe’s heroes (living and late) including President Emmerson Mnangagwa for for their contribution towards realisation for freedom of worship amongst indigenous churches.
“We say thank you to our late and surviving heroes, Joshua Nkomo, Josiah Tongogara, Robert Mugabe, among others including our own President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and several others who went to war for us churches to enjoy freedom of worship countrywide,” she said in her poem.
Road carnage, social decadence has been a major societal challenge in Zimbabwe especially for the young as the lack of jobs has resulted in them opting for ille