A grouping of church leaders has proposed to the Government for the formation of an umbrella body – the Zimbabwe Religious Affairs Commission (ZRAC) that seeks to register and regulate churches in light of recent human rights abuses orchestrated by church leaders and instill sanity in places of worship.
The turn of the millennium brought a sharp rise in the number of evangelical Christian churches in Zimbabwe and until the late 90’s there were a few traditional churches dominated by the Roman Catholic Church and the mainline protestant churches like Anglican, Baptist and Methodist churches.
There were a few home-grown churches such as ZAOGA, AFM, FOG as well as religious sects such as the Mapositori and other cults.
To date, Zimbabwe has no official state religion and other religions like Islam, Judaism, Rastafarianism and Buddhism etc practice freely.
Addressing journalists in Harare on Thursday, ZRAC Interim Chairperson, Dr Frederick Chitate said as various religious leaders we wish there was a Zimbabwe Religious Affairs Commission, in line with trends in other countries in the region.
“Although various affiliate churches and religious bodies exist in Zimbabwe, these have no legal mandate to neither register nor regulate any religious activities. This has resulted in the population of Zimbabwe being exploited by some religious organisations and men of cloth, where no proper recourse can be taken,” said Dr Chitate.
“Many ethical issues such as sexual abuse, abuse of public funds and psychological abuse have arisen in the country as a result of action of various religious organisations. Con men have used churches and religious organizations as conduits for establishment of Ponzi Schemes and therefore there is need to offer protection to unsuspecting public members that keep losing money and properties to some supposedly investment opportunities that are offered by men of the cloth.
“Like with any professional body, it is also important to put in place regulations in terms of registrations, operations and ethics, therefore the commission will guide as the professional body of all related religious organisations. It is also essential to have checks and clearances for foreign religious ministers who want to establish ministries in the country or hold conferences so as to accredit them,” said Dr Chitate.
He added that through the commission, religious tourism in the country will be promoted since Zimbabwe is blessed with many religious monuments and areas that can result in religious pilgrimages that can be used to harness foreign currency for the nation.
Beaven Dhliwayo
Staff Writer
