Council, apostolic sects on collision course

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HARARE City Council is on a collision course with apostolic sect churches dotted across the capital who have vowed to resist proposed by-laws banning open air worshipping by the indigenous churches.

HARARE City Council is on a collision course with apostolic sect churches dotted across the capital who have vowed to resist proposed by-laws banning open air worshipping by the indigenous churches.

BY RICHARD CHIDZA

Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) leader Bishop Johannes Ndanga told The Standard that his organisation’s members would take part in consultations over a proposed by-law that seeks to force open-air worshipers to put up ablution facilities and other infrastructure, accusing council of “bias against indigenous churches”.

Harare has indicated that it would soon put a new by-law that prohibits worshipping in open spaces, save for those with council permits.

Churches issued with permits would be expected to provide ablution facilities and potable water at the proposed site which would be inspected by an environmental health officer.

However, Ndanga said council had been “unco-operative” over the issue of land ownership by his organisation’s more than 700 members.

“The problem is that council cannot expect people to accept such a law when most, if not all Apostolic churches, do not own the spaces from which they operate. Council has a propensity to resort to auctioning of stands that will be available, while some are sold through underhand deals,” he said.

“Our members want to own the stands they operate from, but council has not been co-operative. We are the ones who asked our membership to put up ablution infrastructures in the areas that they use, but because they do not have title deeds to this land and the fact that there are no sewer or water lines from council, it is difficult to envisage the kind of facilities they would put up.”

Ndanga said: “Nobody wants cholera or an outbreak of any other diseases, but we feel council is biased against indigenous churches. We are of the opinion that council must adopt a deliberate policy to allow apostolic sect churches to own the places they worship from, not for free, but at an agreeable fee”.

But council spokesperson Michael Chideme said the churches were jumping the gun as council was willing to take on board their concerns.

“It is a proposed draft by-law which went through council and has since been approved. The by-law now awaits a 30-day public deposit in which it will be scrutinised and objections raised. These objections from the public will inform either additions or subtraction [will be made] to the by-law before it is forwarded to the Minister of Local Government for approval,” he said.

“The Attorney-General will also provide input before it is implemented. So there will be adjustments to the draft. Council has processes which are followed and people must not think that when something is announced, it will be implemented tomorrow.” Chideme added: “We will not try to speculate as to when the by-law will come into force, but any implementation will not be arbitrary.”

Ndanga claimed ACCZ members in Harare had in the past been forcibly removed after the spaces they had occupied for years had been sold “clandestinely” to traditional churches without their knowledge.

“We will take part in the consultations if they allow us and we would assist authorities with identification of churches that deserve to be allocated stands. We also understand that some of the sects have a membership that is very negligible and a plan can be worked out on how these can be merged in situations where their doctrines are similar.”

Chideme said Ndanga’s arguments were “the reasons the draft by-law would be published and brought to the public for scrutiny for council to get input”.

A section of the draft law that is likely to cause ructions between council and the churches is the setting of worship time between 10am and 6pm.

Most of these churches spend the whole day under trees and in open spaces going through prayer sessions.

Director of Housing and Community Services, Josephine Ncube, in her report described open-air worship as a menace which should be addressed by the by-law.