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Mukudzei Chingwere
Herald Reporter
Easter holidays is not a time to be reckless and drink oneself into a stupor, but time to introspect, recommit to the ways of Christianity and correct ills, Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga has said.
VP Chiwenga said this last night after attending the Eucharist at the New Highfield Parish Roman Catholic Church in Harare, which is commemorated globally by Christians in remembrance of Jesus Christ’s last supper with his disciples.
Zimbabwe today joins the rest of the Christian world in marking Good Friday, a day set aside to remember Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.
Sadly, away from their normal business engagements, some people use the time off to drink themselves into a stupor, engage in drink and driving and other negativities.
These negativities have in some cases resulted in loss of life.
“We call it Easter Holiday, but for every Christian it is a period when we remember the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore people should have to behave,” said VP Chiwenga.
“It is not a period where people could go and drink out of their mind and drive recklessly, but it’s a period for one to have self-introspection . . . those things we have been doing bad then you correct them.
“So, we urge people that as we are coming from Easter, we are also going to be planning now for our harvest and so we need to harvest, and those farmers should also prepare for the new season, for the winter season.”
Coincidentally, the period also comes in the same month with the country’s independence celebrations, with Zimbabwe this year celebrating 43 years of hard won freedom on the 18th of April.
It is also the same month that Zimbabwe took its first giant step towards the struggle for independence when seven gallant freedom fighters fired the first bullets to mark the commencement of the Second Chimurenga.
Zimbabweans, said VP Chiwenga, should thus use the period to honour the huge sacrifices made by freedom fighters in liberating the country, as well as recommitting to the ethos of the liberation struggle.
“As for Zimbabweans, the coming week (after Easter) is our 43rd independence day which we must all celebrate alive,” he said.
“This whole month is packed, if you go historically this is the same month we also as a country must remember the seven heroes at Chinhoyi who perished there.
“So, if we go out and see friends, relatives, we must go there, remembering that it is not a period where we should be merry.”
Online Reporter