Church organisations meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa in an effort to resolve the country’s economic and political crisis are diagnosing the wrong disease, a political commentator has said.
Speaking to 263Chat, Zimbabwe Democracy Institute executive director Dr. Pedzisai Ruhanya said the country’s political problems can only be solved if churches engage Zanu PF and the MDC.
“According to the church, the problem is the refusal of Chamisa to be co-opted into POLAD by Mnangagwa. Their view is that Chamisa must join POLAD so that things must work, which is wrong diagnosis of the problem,” said Dr. Ruhanya
He said corruption and a decay in politics from the country’s leaders is the problem.
“The problem in Zimbabwe is a corruption and decomposition of the political stemming from how those who govern the country are elected. It is fundamentally a governance and legitimacy problem that has resulted in the decomposition of the economy. All the problems we see in the economy are symptoms
“What is required is to look at who are the critical players in this crisis and there is no doubt that the critical players are Zanu Pf and the MDC and they have been having disputes since 2000 emanating from how elections are conducted and outcomes that are contested” he said
Ruhanya said the church is missing its role as a unifier.
“The church is missing the point because it is coming in as a partisan group parroting the position of Zanu, it is a hired gun so it is not an independent interlocutor in this thing. They are hired to support the positions of Zanu PF, they are surrogates and it’s a shame that we have a church that supports political parties, their role is to unite people and not to take position with particular political leaders”
Church organisations have been engaging political leaders in an effort to find lasting solution to the country’s political and economic woes.
