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The level of violence and lawlessness exhibited by members of a Johanne Masowe sect led by Madzibaba Ishmael at their shrine in Budiriro 2 in Harare over the weekend was shocking and bordered on religious fundamentalism that should never be entertained given what that scourge has wrought in other African countries, principally Nigeria.
Violence erupted when the police in the company of the leader of the Apostolic Christian Church of Zimbabwe Johannes Ndanga, went to Madzibaba Ishmael’s shrine to serve him with an order to stop operations while cases of alleged cultism levelled against the church were being investigated.
While the jury is still out as to whether Mr Ndanga had the locus standi to enforce such a ban, there can be no excuse to the assault perpetrated on the police and journalists who were covering the event.
We urge the police to get to the bottom of this matter and also to thoroughly investigate all allegations raised against the sect.
A lot of unsavoury things have, of late, been raised against several sects which makes a body such as the ACCZ necessary but such a body should never arrogate on itself the role of prosecutor and judge whenever allegations are raised against sects under its ambit.
The gory scenes from Budiriro were unacceptable as no one should take the law into their own hands.
There is a need for everyone to show respect for the police whenever they are executing their duties. The kind of lawlessness exhibited by the worshippers should never be tolerated by any peace-loving Zimbabwean.
We are not worried whether the ACCZ had the legal ground to carry out such an order or not but we are perplexed by people ganging up to fight and beat up the police.
We expect worshippers to be law-abiding, to be people who comply with orders from authorities, in this case the police, and if they are aggrieved by the action, to seek other peaceful ways of contesting the eviction.
It would not have done Madzibaba Ishmael any harm to simply abide by the order, disperse from the shrine and then later on take their case to appropriate authorities where, we are convinced, they surely would be heard.
It is the same police they should have listened to, in the first instance, who have the power, together with other authorities, to deal with the case of whether they should stop operations or continue worshipping.
The law indeed must take its course and Madzibaba Ishmael and his flock should without fear or favour be brought to book for humiliating, beating and injuring the police and journalists who were simply executing their duties.
Zimbabwe can never be allowed to degenerate into a country where people disrespect the police and show serious disregard for the law.
The flock obviously took advantage that they outnumbered the police, and if that was the case, the police should also have retreated and sought reinforcements to deal with the renegades.
It is sad that the violence and attack on the police came only a few days after President Mugabe warned people, regardless of their perceived positions in society, against violence and inciting violence.
The President said anyone bent on organising illegal protests and inciting violence would face the full wrath of the law.
We want the full wrath of the law to descend heavily on Madzibaba Ishmael and his flock so that a bold message is sent to would be offenders that violence does not pay.
We also want to wish the police officers and journalists injured in the attack a speedy recovery and that the attack should not deter them in performing their duties.
The only place for violent people, especially those who believe they are authorities unto themselves and go about attacking law enforcement agents is behind bars.
Online Reporter