Local churches under the banner Zimbabwe Head of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) are pushing for the suspension of general elections to allow the country to ‘heal past wounds, recover economically and build a new political culture of cooperation focused on nation-building.’
Addressing the press, Rev Kenneth Mtata, who is the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) said the idea of a SABBATH followed a meeting convened by leaders of the ZHOCD to consider the currently unfolding national crisis.
“In light of this, we are calling the nation to SABBATH on all political contestation for a period of seven years to allow for the rebuilding of trust and confidence, reset our politics and chart a shared way forward towards a comprehensive economic recovery path in a non-competitive political environment,” said Mtata.
“The nation could use the coming period to usher in a true Jubilee for the nation by removing all political contestation from the land and focus the period on healing past wounds, recover the economy, and build a new political culture of cooperation focused on nation-building,” added Mtata.
He added that Zimbabwe was unlikely to realize any meaningful engagement as the two main political parties are stuck in the post-election mode.
“The fact that the two main political parties remain stuck in the post-election mode and will soon embark on a new election mode means that Zimbabwe is unlikely to realize any meaningful engagement between these parties towards a shared constitutional alignment agenda,” said Mtata.
Zimbabwe is currently going through one of its worst economic crisis with prices of basic commodities going up by over 500 percent while basic commodities such as bread, fuel and many others have disappeared from local shops.
Workers have also become restless amid demands for better salaries commensurate with the inter-bank rate while government is adamant it will not increase salaries as it does not have capacity to meet their demands.
Rev Mtata said they have since met opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa who committed to discuss with his party executive while efforts to meet President Emmerson Mnangagwa did not yield results as they left a note at his offices.
