Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora, currently under fire for launching attacks on the Christian religion, on Wednesday crept behind a select group of sympathising church pastors in Harare.
The move comes as Dokora is faced with a national protest over his controversial and militant vow he has forced on school children.
The consortium of churches under the banner of the so called “National Elders Church Forum” conjoined Dokora for almost three hours in an intimate presser in which Dokora ducked behind the men of the cloth.
“We said to avert and prevent a culture of conflict and a culture of social turbulences there should be engagement with citizens,” National Elders of the Church spokesperson Alexander Chisango told journalists after the meeting.
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“We also resolved that we want to promote a culture of consultation prior to the announcement of major national policies and we have offered ourselves to be a free resource of wisdom, knowledge and a resource of experience across the board.
“We also agreed that the church will take precautions to help the whole country to shield our schools from unorthodox and immoral social practices that hide under the banner of religion.
“This was more like a damage control and damage healing meeting which was happening and which came already in the midst of lots of suspicion, disagreements and desertions that people were exchanging predominantly through the media,” he said.
Dokora this year became unpopular for introducing controversial ministerial directives in the education sector.
The Education Minister tactfully refused to respond questions to the media claiming that he was not the event organiser.