Greetings from Harare rural. It is the time when I normally have access to the internet and I feel the urge to post this little reflection. Let me confess that if I had an option, I wouldn’t write this but would have written about sweeter things or even write lines of a melifluous song. Yet for the past few days, this has been burning in my bones.
By Abraham Mateta
Early Thursday morning last week, as I was taking a bath, I heard a conviction in my mind that I should pray for the leadership of this country. I felt so sad. How could I think of such a thing which sounded so remort to the quest for food on my table which I was desperately thinking of? I got so worried about why God often gives me big and complex national situations each time I am worried about my personal problems. When I got time alone after a busy day with friends, I decided to read the bible and particularly Romans 13 from verses 1:6. I rediscovered that submission to authority is Godly. This sounded so tragic for me and others who often trace the national lack of progress to the leadership so it came to me even stronger that I should pray for the leaders.
I then learnt through my limited news sources of the callous demolitions of the houses along the airport road. According to evidence emerging, the government and the city council had given the full permission for the construction of those houses. The same government and council now destroyed without mercy those houses. Yet we should pray for that leadership? That is extremely excruciating and heart-pricking. We have been praying for them haven’t we? Isn’t it that God neither sleeps nor slumbers?
I began to clearly understand that we have a problem. Everyone is a victim. Indeed,we commiserate with our fellow compatriots whose right to shelter as enshrined in the constitution was flagrantly violated by the government and the council. Nevertheless, spare a thought for the driver of the bulldozer which destroyed the houses. Does he have a family? Does he have a house? Indeed he is at work but he certainly does have a heart which will always feel bad when he reflects on what he did. Think of the ministers, who against the paper trail of evidence proving the legality of occupation of the land in question, still go on to authorise the demolition of the houses. Do they have consciences? Certainly if they have, they may put up a brave face in public but in private spaces they could be writhing in emotional agony. International legal scholars have argued that the reason why torture is a heinous crime is because it is deleterious to both the victim and the perpetrator. I borrow this line of thinking to our situation and yes! with this understanding, though very angry, I will still do my duty to pray for the leadership of this country and part of the prayer is a report to the almighty and a plea for intervention.
