MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has moved to reach out to the country’s Christian community which he has urged to register for next year’s elections.
This comes after statistics by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission showed that the larger majority of locals were stay away from the current Biometric Voter Registration process.
“I am kindly appealing to all pastors and members of the clergy in our Christian faith and the broader church fraternity to mobilise the congregants to register to vote,” Tsvangirai wrote in a letter directed to Christians Thursday.
Churches command a large following with the country’s Pentecostal churches commanding large congregations of up to 10 000 people at the one goal.
Nearly 85 percent of an estimated 14 million population is said to be of Christian faith with approximately 62 percent regularly attending church services.
It has emerged during past elections that Christians were reluctant to take a position as a distinct collective, rather preferring to take part as individuals and families.
But Tsvangirai on Thursday took the onus to reach out to Christians as the country’s campaign season gathers momentum.
“I am kindly appealing to all pastors and members of the clergy in our Christian faith and the broader church fraternity to mobilise the congregants to register to vote,” he said.
“Fellow Christians, our country is on the crossroads and let us all register to vote for a God-fearing government (Psalms 127:1) that can be trusted win rebuilding a democratic united and prosperous nation.
“The national hope lies in the church to assist in shepherding our beloved country to new dispensation.”
Tsvangirai said the country has “gone through many years as a failed State and we view 2018 as a milestone”.
“We hold the conviction that God loves Zimbabwe and we look to a bright future in hope and faith,” he said.
“Let us pray and urge all congregants to register and vote in the next election. Nothing is impossible because the Lord we serve is a God of eternal goodness and mercy.”
Although a political figure not too known for any association with the church, Tsvangirai was August this year invited to the Methodist Church’s 40 year autonomy celebrations in Harare where he appealed to believers to “inspire hope to the people and not despair” among crisis-weary locals.
His nemesis, President Robert Mugabe is an avowed Catholic who has had his own love-hate relationship with local clerics for allegedly interfering with Zimbabwean politics.
Mugabe has often been seen robed in church regalia among different congregations during the campaign periods. – NewsZim
