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Prosper Ndlovu Senior Reporter
CHURCH leaders have said the outcome of last week’s harmonised elections, which Zanu-PF won resoundingly, could not be disputed and is good for the people. Zanu-PF garnered two thirds majority in Parliament against rivals MDC-T, Zapu and MDC with President Mugabe scoring 61,09 percent votes in the Presidential race.
In separate interviews yesterday, leaders of different church denominations congratulated Zanu-PF saying President Mugabe’s leadership was a blessing from God.
Mr Tsvangirai is challenging the election results citing alleged inconsistencies and rigging in the process.
“We congratulate President Mugabe. God is with him and we urge him to remain strong and take Zimbabwe forward despite Western criticism,” said Pastor Sinothi Ndlovu of New Breed Christ Ministries.
“As the church we are behind the President and we pray for him. Let him continue with the indigenisation programme. Considering that he remains strong at 89 we know God has a purpose about him.
“Mr Tsvangirai should accept defeat if he is a genuine leader and focus on addressing his limitation. He should not lose focus and direction because of defeat.”
The chairman of the Bulawayo Pastors’ Fraternal, Bishop Munyaradzi Pundo, from Word of Life Church, said church leaders in the city were happy with the election outcome.
He said the election was conducted in a free, fair and peaceful manner and applauded Zimbabweans for demonstrating maturity by upholding peace.
“As the church in Zimbabwe we are happy with the results. We urge the losers to accept defeat and try next time and not to cause unnecessary confusion by uttering statements that will bring suffering to Zimbabwe,” said Bishop Pundo.
He applauded Zanu-PF for writing off debts from residents’ bills, saying a similar arrangement must be extended to electricity and telephone bills.
Pastor Pioneer Nyakatene Nhau from Redemption Gospel Church, who said he was part of the election observers in Cowdray Park, said the voting process was conducted efficiently.
“There was nothing wrong. The environment was free and fair and only those who were not on the voters’ roll or those without proper identification were turned away.
“There was no harassment or intimidation. We congratulate the ruling party Zanu-PF for winning this election,” said Pastor Nhau.
The Sadc and the African Union have endorsed the poll results with heads of state in Europe and North America also giving the process the nod.
MDC leader Professor Welshman Ncube has also conceded defeat and said challenging the result was a futile exercise.
Meanwhile, the Africans Against Western Influences and Interference (AAWII) leader Mr Makhosini Khumalo urged Zimbabweans to remain peaceful and ignore MDC-T’s calls for an uprising in protest against the election outcome.
“An uprising is not necessary and it is not a solution. Instead it will leave devastating effects. As an organisation we say no to protests,” he said.
Mr Khumalo said calling for protests would destabilise everything and give the country’s enemies the leeway to invade the country and plunder its resources.
“There is a lot of external interest in Zimbabwe and it is dangerous to have a foreign funded opposition purporting to be there to offer solutions to us.
“Let us remember how independence came about and seek to uphold peace every time,” he said.
Mr Khumalo said Zimbabweans should learn from the experiences in countries like Libya, Egypt and Syria where civil protests have virtually destroyed all the progress made by those states in the past years.
Online Reporter