MUTARE — Several Bishops from Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) received church stands from Zanu PF in Mutare a few days before the harmonised elections in a move that has been largely interpreted as vote buying.
BY CLAYTON MASEKESA
Zanu PF walloped MDC-T in the recent elections. The party led by President Robert Mugabe won 22 out of 26 seats in Manicaland province.
But in the 2008 election, the Morgan Tsvangirai led MDC won 20 seats out of 26 with the remainder going to Zanu PF.
ACCZ Manicaland provincial secretary, Shepherd Mushipi confirmed receiving the stands from Zanu PF.
He said the church would remain loyal to Mugabe.
“Zanu PF has done a lot for us and as a church, we will always appreciate that. We will remain loyal to President Mugabe because he is a man of development,” said Mushipi.
He said the church would start building their church structures immediately.
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“We already have the plans and we will start building the churches very soon. It was not good for us to continue praying in the bushes and under trees,” he said.
One of the bishops, Sydney Mabhiza, whose assembly has also benefitted from the Zanu PF offer, said there was nothing wrong with churches participating in politics or being aligned to a political party.
“Even in the Bible, politics is there. Samuel declared Saul and David as Kings of Israel,” said Mabhiza.
