By Tendai Ruombwa.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News Of The South) Zimbabwe is grappling with controlling marauding ‘fake’, churches that seem bent on manipulating the poor out of money for selfish gain but maybe if they look to our northern neighbours Zambia for inspiration they will learn from the recent developments in that country.
Zambia has hinted on introducing a law that seeks to register all churches in that nation to curb the nation against mercenary clergymen and ‘fake’ churches. Speaking in a ministerial statement Zambia’s minister of National guidance and religious affairs Godfridah Sumaili revealed that all churches will be compelled by law to register under the Registrar of Societies.
While Zimbabwe enjoys freedom of religion as backed by the new constitution where every individual is free to form or join any religious grouping of their choice. As cited by section “freedom to practise and propagate and give expression to their thought, opinion, religion or belief, whether in public or in private and whether alone or together with others.
However, this excessive religious freedom has come to haunt the nation with a number of high profile church leaders being found on the wrong side of the law. Some apostolic sects church leaders are known for notoriously abusing their office and the trust bestowed upon them by congregants by raping and conning congregants.
The prophetic churches have also followed suit with what members of the public have called commercialisation of the gospel and abuse of people’s belief systems. These unscrupulous pastors promise congregants micro-wave wealthy and breakthroughs which defies the general norms of life.
While it is not the place of the government to censor on the message that individual pastors preach in their church services the government must retain some form of influence in protecting the public against bogus church leaders. There should be a central oversight body, made up of representatives of the Christian faith, but which body is recognised by the State and has the power of the State behind it.
In all fairness whilst diversity in how people pray is a good ingredient to societal development, the government must have a role in ensuring that the antics used by these church leaders do not violate human rights for example. For instance, congregants being asked to drink sewage or being blinded to initiate deliverance are just but examples of how rights of individuals are being violated under the guise of being delivered. While we can blame the congregants’ desperation and gullibility in all these it is only noble to call upon the formation of some regulation board that oversees church activities. In a civilized nation people must not be allowed to just wake up and ‘own a church’ without any documentation.
Over the years some church leaders have mushroomed around the nation and most of these are of no fixed about using the word to lure innocent people and preying on their hard-earned money. There must be a responsible board that license churches to operate just like in other sectors of the economy and a code of conduct must be formulated to ensure that the activities within these churches is above board. In all honesty church business is one of the few thriving businesses in Zimbabwe with prominent church leaders amongst some of the richest people.
Government’s proposal to tax the churches is therefore justifiable given that these churches are now taken as money making schemes where thousands of dollars are raised in a single church service. Also, given that these preachers put emphasis on the need for congregants to give unreservedly to the house of the Lord through offerings and tithes it is only noble then for the churches also to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar!
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