The Sunday News
Vincent Gono, Features Editor
APOSTOLIC churches in the country have been urged to take a pro-active role in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic by encouraging members to seek urgent medical assistance and not rely on prophets and prayers in the event they suspect an infection.
Association of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe President Bishop Tsungai Vushe told Sunday News on Friday that although a good number of their membership fully embrace the existence of coronavirus, there were some who were still doubtful and were playing cat and mouse with the law enforcement agents.
“We still have part of our members evading what the Government has put in place as guidelines for the containment of Covid-19. It is worrying that some of the churches in town that do open air worship are congregating on hills, mountains and in the bushes where numbers are usually not controlled.
“Some of them do not even bother using sanitisers and face masks yet their services are characterised by loud singing, dancing and praying for each other where there is so much contact. In most cases there is zero social distancing,” he said.
Bishop Vushe urged the apostolic churches to respect the laws of the country and take seriously warnings that the Government was issuing.
He advised the churches that in the event of a suspected infection, they should quickly refer their members to hospital and not rush to seek prayers as they would be spreading the virus in the process.
“We know that as Africans our first port of call in the event of disease is dependent on our beliefs. Some consult traditional healers while some go to prophets. Let me encourage our citizens that they should urgently refer the sick relative to the hospital because any movement may cause the spread of the virus,” he said.
The AACZ president also urged his membership to ensure they put on personal protective equipment when they decide to congregate.
“It’s all for the good of the people. We should be each other’s keeper and let’s not be careless, the virus is real and we cannot afford to wait for relatives to die so that we believe it,” he said.
He added that people should be wary of returning relatives who evade quarantine centres.
“Yes, they are our relatives, our brothers, sisters and husbands but if they come illegally, we should be worried and take the necessary precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the pandemic to innocent children,” he warned.
Bishop Vushe further urged the police to take an active role in the fight against the pandemic by not interrogating people who might want to tip them off on people who would have sneaked into the country through illegal entry points.
“Police should not frustrate such efforts from citizens. They should act rather than start interrogating worried citizens who would be trying to tip them off,” he said.
Bishop Vushe said they were appealing for resources to give out to their vulnerable membership.
“We are trying to mobilise food, and personal protective equipment to give out to the vulnerable members of our societies such as the elderly and orphans, most of whom are members of their members.”
Chief Co-ordinator to the National Response to Covid-19 Taskforce in the Office of the President and Cabinet Dr Agnes Mahomva said last week that the fight against Covid-19 was supposed to be everyone’s concern.
“We are so worried by the approach of some churches and some rural communities. We are mobilising resources for our rural communities to ensure that the vulnerable are covered and provided with personal protective equipment under the department of social welfare,” she said.
Dr Mahomva added that there was a need for reciprocity in terms of accountability between the communities and the Government noting that lack of seriousness in communities was shocking.
“We need to hold each other accountable. We are trying our level best to ensure that information reaches everyone as we try to flatten the curve. It is unfortunate that the opposite is happening mostly because people are reluctant to change their behaviour but the message is clear that coronavirus is real and people should take as much caution as possible,” she said.
Dr Mahomva said law enforcement agents were on the ground to ensure compliance with the guidelines as announced by President Mnangagwa.
