Story by Grace Sibanda
THE church is lobbying the government to continue weeding out corrupt public office bearers who abuse their power, to pave way for the attainment of Vision 2030.
Bulawayo residents who attended a consultative meeting organised by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), believe the church plays a critical role in ridding society of this social ill.
“Most holders of public office are within the church and it is the church’s role to stamp out such behaviour,” said one of the attendants.
Another added, “It is the church’s role to inculcate an attitude change amongst people.”
The clergy has strongly rebuked corrupt activities in public offices, calling upon the government to sternly deal with such perpetrators.
“We have been presented with an audit report and we know the government lets out funds but these funds do not reach the people many times and we as a church are rallying behind the government to say such behaviour is unacceptable and perpetrators of such need to be brought to book so that Zimbabwe’s people benefit from devolution funds,” said Zimbabwe Council of Churches administrator, Reverend Mbongeni Proud Dube.
Former Zimbabwe Council of Churches president, Bishop Lazarus Khanye said, “We are in reach of achieving Vision 2030. However some people stand as stumbling blocks, so we as a church stand to correct where we should because the duty of fixing where society is not well does not rest on government alone, but on us as well.”
Churches are vehicles of development through asserting their participation in policy formulation and advocacy for ethical leadership, peace, nation building as well as the transformative agenda, dovetailing with the country’s quest to assert itself as an upper middle-income society by 2030.
