DZAMARA FAMILY STATEMENT OVER ITAI DZAMARA PRAYER POSTPONEMENT
*Prayer was not cancelled. It was just postponed.
*Our religion is indeed diluted.

* We still hold on to hope.
As a result of the postponement of Itai Dzamara’s prayer we feel it is expedient to categorically set the record straight.
As a family, we wish to inform the nation that the prayer process for our missing family member is our initiative. However, as a result of the complexity of the matter we are dealing with, we engaged those who have been commiserating with us to assist in pushing this process to a higher level. Together with other institutions, we constituted the organising team for the prayer gathering for Itai Dzamara that was scheduled to take place today at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield.
Other institutions that were a part of the organising team were the political parties, civil organisations and the church. We collectively met thrice and every constituency represented on the table was given specific responsibilities.
As far as my knowledge is concerned, The Pastors Fellowship of Zimbabwe representing the church was invited to the table but it appears as if they are seeking to posit that the prayer initiative was their brainchild. That is not correct. Through the help of well wishers in the civic society, as a family we have been hosting prayer meetings for Itai Dzamara on a monthly basis since his disappearance and that is public knowledge.
Its unfortunate and curious that of all the prayer meetings we have hosted as a family, The Pastors Fellowship of Zimbabwe never showed up. Neither were they a part of the process. In fact most church leaders never came through to pray with us because they are afraid to be marked by the authorities and eventually missing out on what they love the most, richies. One therefore wonders how one Watson Furayi from the Pastors Fellowship of Zimbabwe has the nerve to inform the nation that the prayer gathering was their direct project. It boggles the mind how he then collaborated, in my view, with the police to see to it that the prayer would not go ahead but that was overturned when the judge ruled in our favour on Saturday night. The prayer meeting would indeed go ahead as planned but we postponed it.
As indicated, the Pastors Fellowship was only invited to be a part of the process that has been ongoing. The reason was to broaden the prayer campaign. We want this to be a national process because it is a national issue.
When responsibilities were allocated to all the constituencies, the Pastors Fellowship of Zimbabwe was assigned to make an application of notice to the police and to coordinate the prayer section during the program. That is all they had to do and that was the beginning of the unthinkable.
This man who answers to the name Watson Furayi is a greedy money hunter. He hoped that everything pertaining to the prayer was going to be his responsibility not because of a service motivation but because of the perceived benefits. When he realised that was not to be the case, he began to do all he could to stifle the prayer gathering. Something that is not expected from a man who claims to be a pastor.
Due to the fact that the police notice was done through their somewhat bogus pastors fellowship, he took it upon himself to see to it that the prayer meeting was sabotaged. He went to the police and notified them that the prayer meeting had been hijacked by the MDC-T and so it had to be cancelled.
That is ridiculous and utter nonsense. Furayi did not have the mandate to call off the prayer because after all it was not his project. His organisation was just invited to represent the church on the table. However, his hunger for money, just like many of his colleagues, clouded his sense of judgment and according to him, the prayer meeting had to cancelled simply because he was not given room to enrich himself. That is absolute hogwash.
Ladies and gentlemen this shows how our religious fibre has been diluted. I shudder to think that with these kind of pastors we are heading towards an irretrievable religious precipice. How can a man who claims to be a pastor stoop that low and allow himself to be used to stand in the way of a prayer gathering for an innocent citizen who was abducted by what we are convinced are State security agents! That is petrifying. Furayi must be ashamed of himself.
Just like many of his colleagues who masquerade as pastors, he chose to sacrifice the demands and standards of his calling on a silver platter. It is indeed a shame. We do not know Furayi as a family and we have nothing to do with him and whatever he represents but for him to take the matter of our missing family member into his hands is unacceptable.
A lot of resources, time and effort were channelled towards this prayer gathering but one charlatan called Furayi took it upon himself to derail the process. However and in spite of that, the High Court ruled in the favour of our family and the prayer was to go ahead today had it not been for logistical dynamics. Furayi’s evil machinations have done so much damage in terms of mobilisation and coordination. It is with that in mind that we postponed the prayer meeting to a new date to be announced soon.
Lastly, I wish to challenge all religious leaders to take ownership of what is happening in the nation of Zimbabwe. The church must have a neutral voice in the way the nation is run and on issues prevailing in the nation. I am not under the illusion that our solution as far as our missing family member are in the hands of a human being. If church leaders choose to remain silent and help the oppressors to oppress people, with or without them, God will make a way in his sovereignty.
I also wish to inform anyone concerned that the issue of our missing brother can never be used as a trump card by anyone to meet their selfish goals. We will not step aside and watch as unshamed individuals, the likes of Furayi, seek to satiate their selfish agendas through our missing family member.
On behalf of the Dzamara family,
Patson Dzamara