The Sunday News
VICE-President Phelekezela Mphoko has bemoaned the rise in cases of minors being raped and has called on the church to intervene.
VP Mphoko made the plea during the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Apostolic Faith Mission church in Zimbabwe.
“We read in the media on a daily basis about children as young as two months being raped in an effort to cure HIV, and it is disgusting to hear that we have people who do that. It is the job of the church and also of parents to restore humaneness that seems to have been lost in our people,” said VP Mphoko.
He said it was sad to note that Zimbabweans still believed that having sexual intercourse with young virgin girls could cure them of HIV and said it was folly for a population to have such thoughts.
VP Mphoko said the church had a huge role to play as there were many “lost sheep” that needed to be educated on the sanctity of life.
“The church has to go out there and transform lives of people as they seem to be doing things that are out of the ordinary nowadays. Many people are looking up to God for salvation and a lot still needs to be done in order to bring sanity to the country,” he said.
He encouraged church elders to speak openly and honestly about HIV in the church.
He said people needed to be humane, respect each other and mould the moral fabric back to what it was before.
Reverend Richard Sibanda, the overseer of the Apostolic Faith Mission, said when elders of a country give advice the people have to take heed.
“Our elders like the VP have given us advice and it is our role to listen and take action on the things that are affecting our country,” he said.
The Apostolic Faith Mission church which is found throughout the Sadc region was formed in 1955 by the late Reverend Morgan Sengwayo in Pelandaba suburb in Bulawayo.
