By Dewa Mavhinga
For me, nothing can be more revolting than ‘men of God’ taking the Lord’s name in vain. In Zimbabwe there is a curious breed of ‘men of God’ who are shamelessly peddling ZANU-PF propaganda in the name of God. There is a cadre of ZANU-PF activists who masquerade as Christians and purport to preach virtues of forgiveness, national healing and peace when in fact all they are doing is covertly convey ZANU-PF messages to an unsuspecting clergy. This is unfair; it is only fair that l reveal to the public, for the avoidance of doubt, that these so-called Bishops and pastors are agents of the regime.
For those familiar with Zimbabwean politics l know already you have in mind ZANU-PF activists like: the dubious but prominent churchman, Reverend Obadiah Musindo (a convicted rapist who once described Mugabe as a ‘Black Moses’ and denounced MDC in his prayers) who heads Destiny Africa Network; yet another convicted rapist and ZANU-PF supporter, Madzibaba Pastor Lawrence Katsiru of the apostolic sect who terrorized Marondera in the cause of ZANU-PF; Madzibaba Nzira, also a convicted rapist who at one time “prophesied” that Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s rightful ruler; and die-hard ZANU-PF supporter, Mugabe praise singer and war veteran, disgraced Bishop Nolbert Kunonga who was excommunicated for the Anglican Church. In August 2005 Kunonga appeared before an ecclesiastical court facing numerous charges of bringing the church into disrepute including by bringing militant ZANU-PF politics to the pulpit.
Apart from these, we have more subtle and smooth supporters of ZANU-PFs disguised as churchmen, one of whom is Bishop Trevor Manhanga, who, of late, has been actively supporting embattled Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono. At a funeral of Gono’s brother, Bishop Manhanga reportedly said there can be no national healing if people continued to call for Gono’s departure. In a recent opinion piece titled “Time to end the blame game,” claims that for Zimbabwe the real issue is not for Gono and Attorney General to go because next people will call for Augustine Chihuri, Perence Shiri, Happyton Bonyongwe and Constantine Chiwenga to go as well and finally for Mugabe to go. And according to Bishop Manhanga getting rid of these liabilities would be tragic and disastrous for Zimbabwe.
Interestingly, in a piece calling for the blame game to end, Manhanga immediately assigns blame to ‘those outside our borders,’ for orchestrating calls for Gono and Mugabe to go. And he states with finality that, ‘It will not happen.’ This ZANU-PF activist-cum-man of cloth then, in feigned piousness, lectures that now is the time for national healing and declares that it is time for all of us to be magnanimous.
My direct response to Bishop Manhanga is that for Zimbabwe, the past is the future. There can be no going forward without addressing the sins of the past and without holding to account those in ZANU-PF who have killed and maimed hundreds in Zimbabwe. What national healing is possible without justice? If Manhanga and his handlers think that Zimbabweans will forget how they were butchered and persecuted merely for expressing a different political view then he is in for a rude awakening. If Manhanga thinks that Zimbabweans will not see that under his church robes his is putting on a ZANU-PF t-shirt then he will be shocked to discover that his true identity and relationship to ZANU-PF is not so secret.
It feels me with outrage to read utter rubbish about national healing and moving forward from a so-called Bishop who did not lift a finger when human rights and MDC activists were being abducted and tortured in broad daylight. Talk of hypocrisy. Which Bible is Manhanga reading? Does the Bible not say in Amos 5:24 ‘Let Justice run down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream?’ And did Jesus Christ not condemn his kind when he said, ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.’(Matthew 7:15).
Bishop Trevor Manhanga, please, do not insult the collective intelligence of Zimbabweans by propagating ZANU-PF propaganda disguised as gospel news and thinking we will be fooled. That will not happen. The tribe of political activists abusing the church pulpit must know that we will unmask them and engage them as they truly are, that is, ZANU-PF puppets and stooges.
Now is the time for patriotic Zimbabweans to come together and demand justice and accountability from those who hold political office. Now is the time to demand that the inclusive government delivers justice and bread to the people. We do not eat the presence of MDC in government, what we want are results on the table. We do not give flaming flamingos if MDC has a minister in charge of home affairs, what we want is change in the conduct of the police and tangible evidence that they now respect people’s rights. Otherwise of what use is it that Giles Mutseyekwa of MDC is co-minister in Home Affairs but MDC and human rights activists are being tortured, persecuted and harassed by police?
In Service to My Conscience and My Country,
Dewa Mavhinga
