Harare — Christian leaders have urged the people of Zimbabwe to pray for a God-fearing leader ahead of the crucial elections on Wednesday, noting that everyone has a responsibility in nation-building.
Report by Hazvinei Mwanaka
The group, which is made up of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Council of Churches, and Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations, said Zimbabweans and Christians should put God first.
Churches have always played a vital role in peace, mediation and conflict resolution in different circles throughout Zimbabwe’s turbulent political history.
The leader of the group, Dr Goodwill Shana said it was everyone’s responsibility to pray for a God-fearing leader who shunned violence.
“Everyone has a responsibility to pray for a God-fearing leader who will not mislead people in the face of challenges. We have to be strong and pray for God’s guidance. We encourage every Zimbabwean from different political parties to shun violence, but rather maintain peace and tolerance before and after elections and to accept the results as they are,” said Shana.
Other denominations in the country also encouraged people to pray for the forthcoming elections to ensure a peaceful and credible election which does not give a disputed outcome.
Faith Family Church International member Chipo James said the church was the force that should guide the country adding that there was need for people to tolerate and appreciate one another.
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“We encourage every Zimbabwean to pray vigorously for us to have a peaceful election. Everyone is to blame for the political situation in Zimbabwe, hence everyone should pray even harder. We do not want to return to the 2008 scenario and everyone should make a concerted effort for us to have a peaceful and positive election outcome,” said James.
Zimbabwe’s previous elections were characterised by violence, intimidation, bloodshed and deaths. Recently churches in Zimbabwe launched a peace campaign dubbed Ecumenical Peace Observation in Zimbabwe to promote peace in the run up to, during and after the country’s election, as part of efforts to curb the violence that has been known to flare up during election times.