By Wilbert Mukori- It is one thing for political leaders to attend church services but another for them to then use the church pulpit to spread their political propaganda! Sadly, this has now become the norm in Zimbabwe!
“The Bible commands us to pray and to give thanks in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 17-18 Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,” President Mnangagwa preached to the congregation attending the Zimbabwe Indigenous International Council of Churches (ZIICC) National Day of Prayer at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
“We must always commit all our national aspirations to the Almighty God; casting our burdens to him for surely he shall sustain us.”
There is no denying that Zimbabwe is facing the toughest times in the country’s history with unemployment a nauseating 90%, the country’s education and health services have all but collapsed, an economy in total meltdown, shortages of fuel, medicine and food, etc. 90% of our people now live in poverty with 34% of them living in abject poverty, according to a recent WB report.
The root cause of the country’s economic meltdown and political paralysis resulting the country’s failure to pull itself out of the mess is bad governance, a man-made problem. 40 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness has reduced the country to a banana republic in economic ruins.
The people of Zimbabwe have watched whilst Zanu PF destroyed the country’s economy these last 40 years, helpless to do anything to stop the destruction, because the party rigged the elections. When some people dared to protest the July 2018 rigged elections, President Mnangagwa ordered the soldiers to shoot to kill! The message he intended to send is crystal-clear, Zanu PF will not tolerate any dissent!
So the circumstance Zimbabweans find themselves in today is serious economic meltdown, abject poverty and political helplessness after 40 years of corrupt and tyrannical oppression. Those behind the corrupt and tyrannical oppression are arguing that “The Bible commands us to pray and to give thanks in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in.” They have even found verses in the Bible to support their position.
This is just propaganda nonsense of the highest order! When Moses pointed to the land beyond the River Jordan, the Promised Land, God did not command the Children of Israel to “pray and give thanks in whatever circumstance” they found themselves in. The Bible is replete with stories of the Israelites having to fight for every inch of the Promised Land.
After the Zimbabwe attained her independence in 1980 we have had to fight our own battles against an enemy within our midst – those seeking to rid roughshod over others denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life!
The moral of the countless stories in the Bible, especially those in the Old Testament, is that the children of Israel, God’s Chosen People, had to fight for the Promised Land. It is therefore nonsense to suggest that we, in Zimbabwe, can have a just, peaceful and prosperous nation without having to fight the corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs hell bend on turning the country into hell-on-earth.
President Mnangagwa is not the first character to quote the Bible out of context for his own sinister purposes.
“Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Matthew 4: 5 to 7.
“I have declared the Year 2020 as a year of productivity and trade. I, therefore, call upon the leadership of all churches in Zimbabwe to engage, teach and encourage their congregants to be hard working and productive. God has given us abundant natural resources throughout the country,” Mnangagwa argued.
“We must harness these natural endowments to improve the quality of life for our people.”
Indeed, Zimbabwe is a rich country endowed with fertile land and good wealth to produce food in great abundance and with vast mineral wealth and other resources. The only reason there is poverty, strive and despair in Zimbabwe is because of greed and misrule.
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs and 40 years of misrule have reduce the nation to banana republic with a few filthy rich tyrants and millions upon millions of filthy and political powerless paupers.
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. No amount of praying or hard work by the poor will revive the economy; it has not worked these last 40 years. The solution is to end the pariah state by demanding the holding of free, fair and credible elections and thus end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance.
Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis is a man-made problem, a problem of bad governance, and well within you and me, ordinary mortals, to solve. To pray for God to stop Mnangagwa rigging elections is tantamount to putting God to the test because He does not do what man can do for himself!