Apostolic sect members ready for open-air combat with Bulawayo city council

apostolic faith members

A showdown is looming between the Bulawayo City Council and open-air worshipers, after council said it will soon engage the services of the Zimbabwe Republic Police Support Unit to force the religious denominations off the open spaces

This open worshipping practice had increased considerably barely a month after the local authority announced a ban.

Apostolic sect leaders, who spoke to the Sunday News yesterday, said “council was just being funny” and vowed to continue with their mode of worship. They said they were not moved by council threats as the supreme law of the land, the constitution, guaranteed Freedom of Worship and they also were guided by the Holy Spirit.

Acting director of Housing and Community Services, Mr Mackenzie Moyo, said the continued mushrooming of open-air worship organisations in the city was a cause for concern and council would be forced to engage the services of the Zimbabwe Republic Police Support Unit to help them enforce city council by-laws.

The acting director said the Support Unit would help the council disperse all the churches that worship in bushes and in open spaces in the city.
“The bottom line is that it is not allowed. Akuvunyelwa. It’s a gross contravention of section 27 (b) of council by-laws of 1975, protection of lands and natural resources. We are worried because the numbers are increasing. We are arresting an average of 30 people every month and fining them but they are not deterred,” he said.

He added that the decision by council to engage the services of the support unit was a last resort reached after the realisation that the municipal police and health inspectorate teams who were recently unleashed on the open-air worshippers to effectively enforce the by-laws and bring a semblance of order in the city’s suburbs, were failing to deal with the nuisance.

The move is, however, likely to meet formidable resistance from the churches who vowed to stay put, describing their mode of worship as a calling from God.

Mr Fanos Woneka, who leads an apostolic sect, Nguva Yekuguma, in Pumula, said there was freedom of worship in the country, adding that there was need for the city council to comply with the laws of the country and avoid putting into force its “petty laws to stifle the progression of the gospel”.

“We are not going to be threatened. The Bible clearly states in 1 Timothy 2 verse 8 that: ‘I desire therefore that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting’. That is exactly what we are doing and we wonder what the city council is saying. They think they are fighting us but they are fighting God and they won’t win the war. The practice started long back, why are they saying it’s illegal today,” asked Mr Woneka.

He said they were going to wait for the police support unit, adding that the disciples were beaten up and some of them killed but the gospel continued.
A member of the Johane Masowe Apostolic Sect near Davies Granite said they have no plans whatsoever of constructing a building. He said they were acting in compliance with the command of the Holy Spirit.

“We are acting in compliance with the command of the Holy Spirit and we are not going to construct a church. There is freedom of worship in this country and the President himself knows it. The city council is just trying to be funny. We are not going to be shaken by the threats. We will wait and explain our cause to anyone who would bother us,” said the member who refused to be named.

The decision by council comes hardly a few months after it announced the banning of the practice amid concerns by some councillors that there was gross defiance of the ban.

The councillors said instead of paying heed to the announcement there was a continued increase in the churches that practice open-air worship, arguing that the churches were flouting council by-laws by not providing ablution facilities.

Councillor Ephraim Ncube said there was a continued increase in open-air worship churches especially in the area behind Pumula High School. He said something should be done to ensure the worshippers were made to comply with city by-laws.

Councillor Nduna Dladla concurred, saying the open-air churches were becoming a nuisance in the areas they operate, noting that the churches were using bottles and other materials for healing purposes and causing environmental degradation in the process.

Mr Moyo said it was saddening to note that the churches were reluctant to acquire stands as evidenced by the small number of those who had bought stands. He vowed that the city council would not be pressed to relax its by-laws by the defaulters but would do everything to ensure the by-laws are adhered to.