Harare, 30 August, 2023 / 9:55 pm (ACI Africa).
Christian leaders in Zimbabwe have offered to mediate disputes arising from the just concluded general elections to help maintain peace in the Southern African nation.
Zimbabwe’s opposition, Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) party, has disputed the declaration of the incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner of the presidential race in the August 23-24 polls and called for “a fresh and … proper election and African mediation.
Late August 26, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared President Mnangagwa of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) winner of the Presidential election, with approximately 53 percent of the vote, against 44 percent that CCC’s Nelson Chamisa garnered.
“The Church stands ready to offer support, guidance, and mediation where necessary, to ensure that the nation remains peaceful in this post-election period,” the church leaders under the auspices of Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) say in a Monday, August 28 statement.
The church leaders who represent the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) and the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe Africa (UDACIZA) add, “By promoting peace, cohesion, harmony, and tolerance, we sow the seeds for a Zimbabwe that is peaceful, united, prosperous, and harmonious.”
