admin
TODAY marks the beginning of the second most important holidays on the Christian calendar, which is also a public holiday in terms of Government statutes.
Good Friday is commemorated as the day Jesus Christ was crucified and buried more than 2 000 years ago for the salvation of mankind. The Easter holiday ends on Monday next week.
Zimbabweans from all walks of life celebrate Easter in a variety of ways. Christians across the country will be attending church services until Easter Sunday, the day they mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Different denominations also hold Easter conferences that are attended by congregations from within the country and beyond.
The 2018 Easter holiday comes at a time when there are calls to pray for peace, unity, forgiveness, love and development in the country.
This call has not only been made by the Church in Zimbabwe, but by senior Government officials, including President Mnangagwa more so when the nation is preparing for the harmonised elections to be held this July.
Easter is driven by a spirit of sacrifice, because that is what the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about and the sense of freedom that His supreme sacrifice brought, should be experienced by everyone.
We should also walk that extra mile in order to make Zimbabwe a conducive home for its citizenry, including visitors. After all, Zimbabwe is open for business.
The Easter holiday is also a time when we experience large volumes of traffic on our roads as people, apart from attending church conventions will be visiting relatives, friends and even going on holiday to various tourist resorts in the country.
Sadly, we normally experience an increased number of traffic accidents on our roads — some of them fatal. We therefore call upon all the travelling public to take it easy on the roads.
Those behind the wheel — be it private cars, buses, kombis and/or haulage trucks -should ensure that they drive to arrive alive. It is needless for them to drive under the influence of liquor or any other intoxicating substances that can easily impair their judgment on the road.
Common sense should be applied that if they are drunk, they should not drive, for we have lost too many lives on the roads and some people have been maimed for life.
Apart from the loss experienced by families, the nation also becomes the biggest loser if people, most of them in their productive years needlessly lose lives due to traffic accidents.
Although the state of the road network needs urgent attention, we still feel most of the accidents are avoidable.
Apart from efforts made by the Zimbabwe Republic Police and stakeholders such as the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, drivers can make that extra effort by avoiding speeding, negligence and/or driving vehicles that are not roadworthy. We would also want to commend some service providers — apart from the police — for being there to provide critical services during all holidays.
This includes health delivery service providers: the Fire Brigade, National Blood Service Zimbabwe, to name but a few. While people are enjoying their holidays, they will be on standby to provide service when the need arises.
As we wish our valued readers a happy Easter, we also want to point out that this will be a wet Easter since, the rainy season is still on. The rains are welcome. However, we urge people to be cautious and avoid crossing flooded rivers.
Online Reporter