The Sunday News
Farming Correspondent
THE Zion Christian Church is set to build a tertiary institution which will specialise in agriculture-related studies before the end of the year, an official has said.
ZCC church spokesperson Mr Sanctions Mutendi revealed this in an interview during the church annual conference held at Defe, south of Gokwe early this month.He said a proposal had been sent to President Mugabe for approval.
“The opening of a ZCC university is quite imminent; protocols are already being worked out in order to enable the developing of the charter and curriculum. We are only waiting for the President who is the Chancellor of Universities for his timeline in the setting up. Our thrust for specialising in agriculture is derived from the Bible when God created man he was told to be the keeper of the earth and at this point it’s through agriculture,” said Mr Mutendi.
He said the site for the university was still under consideration.
Mr Mutendi said the church was a partner of Government in development guided with philosophy of the church.
He said the university sought to support national policies, especially the blueprint Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable and Social Economic Transformation (Zim Asset) of the first cluster of Food, Nutrition and Security.
“Sites for the university are still being considered and I’m not yet in a position to reveal but will do so as soon as approvals are made. The university seeks to complement the country’s programmes and mostly the blue print on cluster number one of food, nutrition and security. For the country to achieve on this programme people need to be assisted with training and our philosophy as a church is to assist Government as a partner in all its developmental issues.
“We foresee many economic opportunities being unlocked through the university such as employment creation, value addition of agro produce, the growing of manufacturing industry in the food sector to mention a few. God wants peace, love, healthy people and he is against poverty, he encourages us to till the land in the Bible and also to be subjects of the Government,” he said.
Mr Mutendi also said more than 1 000 families in Zimbabwe had benefited from micro gardening across the country, a project being spearheaded by the church.
“We have over 1 000 families so far that have benefited through horticulture projects across many areas in Midlands, Gokwe, Masvingo, Matabeleland, Mashonaland and Manicaland. They are growing cash crops to sustain themselves and this is also part of our religious social responsibility. The university will give a leverage to these projects to make sure they contribute economically,” he said.
ZCC is led by Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi and the church commands thousands of followers worldwide.
