With the general elections looming over the nation’s head, Zimbabwean politicians are interestingly becoming so religious in their rally or political talks.
Every now and then various politicians or their spin doctors are making headlines, not because they have the soundest manifestos or overawing oratory skills but, because they are bringing God in it, an alluring force that’s certain to deliver them the attention and vote they so covet.
On so many occasions, political leaders or candidates have been correlated with great biblical figures or have been labelled Godsent, God-chosen, God-ordained or Messiah and what not, who knows what else they call them behind their closed doors.
Fundamentally, the sudden pious or ‘believer-like’ talk and categorisation that we are noticing now does not incur to their sense of belief in the Almighty God or the faith that the church is so beholden to. Rather, it bears much to the fact that Zimbabwe is progressively becoming a Christian society with every tick-tock, thus, to appeal to the majorities who are profoundly religious or particularly Christian, they need a comprehensive language that can relate to them and that language is the Bible, God and Messiah. Kudos to myriad preachers who are working out the hard job of discipling people to Christ.
Just to feature a few standout cases, earlier in April, Linda Masarira, a human rights activist and the solidest thing close to the MDC-T President Thokozani Khupe, issued a public statement in which she showered honours on Khupe, likening her to the Biblical Hannah and Queen Esther.
Posting on her Facebook page Masarira said:
“At this stage the life of Khupe could be said it is headed for the direction where she has become a capable, intelligent and virtuous woman, a patriotic military adviser like Deborah, a woman of constancy like Ruth, the ideal mother like Hannah, hospitable as the Shunamite, a revealer of secrets to national leaders like Huldah and even more than Queen Esther the woman who risked sacrificing her life for her people.”
That would make an impressive homily, won’t it?
Just under a month ago, aspiring Member of Parliament for Mount Pleasant and Advocate, Fadzayi Mahere, addressing believers at ONEchurch in Avondale in an open-question-and-answer session dubbed Responsible Citizenship: Q&A Session with Fadzayi Mahere, confided how her Christian faith is imperative to her, although she does not like forcing it on people who do not feel like practising it. Whoa!
A week ago, Zanu PF National chairperson Oppah Muchinguri told attendees at a rally in Redcliff that God anointed his Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa and was waiting for him to rule Zimbabwe to open great opportunities for all.
Muchinguri, who quite sadly, has been reportedly rushed to South Africa to get treatment on breast complications following a bombing incident in Bulawayo, was caught on record stating:
“We are still a virgin country which is yet to be discovered. The country offers limitless opportunities and God was waiting for President Mnangagwa so as to unlock his blessings. He (Mnangagwa) didn’t campaign for the presidency. Leadership was handed down to him by God…He is our Messiah.”
And this week in the limelight is the Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, warning those behind the alleged assassination attempt on President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who entered into power in November last year after Chiwenga led a military interference which toppled former President Mugabe, that they will fail as the Zanu PF leader was “anointed” by God.
Addressing Zanu PF supporters at a rally in Shurugwi on Wednesday, Chiwenga echoing Muchinguri’s claims, said the blast which rocked White City Stadium in Bulawayo last weekend leaving 47 people injured and two State security agents dead, was the work of people who did not understand the sanctity of human life and a tranquil country.
Chiwenga declared:
“You cannot succeed with a plan to kill someone who was anointed by God. Such actions to cause harm to innocent human beings can only be carried out by shameless people. Even if they had killed me or the President (Mnangagwa), what would they achieve from such actions?”
Now that we have said it, we may need to say it all as well. We will not turn an unconscious eye to how God is literally or spiritually running the MDC Alliance campaign as its president Pastor Nelson Chamisa has saturated the Twittersphere with a #GodIsInIt hashtag, affirming that he’s God’s choice over other contestants.
Well, we cannot be out of familiarity with reality to postulate that with the July 30 general election fast approaching practically every politician has grown some sort of faith fairly, whether it is real or imaginary just to entice people to vote for them.
Under false conviction of faith and Biblical proficiency, many politicians have been able to exploit the Holy Scripture, by either saying this leader is a Messiah or claim he or she is like various biblical panaceas we ascribe to thereby deluding the decent and spiritual gullible commonalty that Christians are.
It is up to the Church to distinguish who indeed is coming from a position of reality and true faith.
And to politicians, in the words of Harare-based columnist Conway Nkumbuzo Tutani, they should:
‘Leave God out of it, especially when you are conveniently wearing your partisan political party hat in view of the looming elections. Zimbabweans, in their maturity and wisdom, should not buy that. They should be suspicious of anyone who conflates politics with religion.’
