Zanu PF Murakashi Threatens Church Leaders Over Anti-2030 Stance – Eduzim News

Tinashe Sambiri– Zanu PF online activist Dereck Goto has issued a strong warning to the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops following their denunciation of the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3, which seeks to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term until 2030.

In a statement at the weekend, Goto said, “Religious institutions carry a rare and fragile mandate – to illuminate, to steady, to unify. That mandate fractures the instant the pulpit becomes a political platform. When sections of Catholic leadership immerse themselves in constitutional politics, they do not clarify the national discourse; they cloud it, binding the Gospel to shifting partisan agendas.”

He added, “The question is not whether the Church should speak – it is whether it can do so without surrendering its independence. Moral authority is not asserted; it is preserved through restraint. Once it enters the contest of political positioning, it ceases to guide and starts to compete – and in that competition, it inevitably diminishes itself.”
Goto referenced the example of former Archbishop Pius Ncube, saying, “Zimbabwe has seen this script before – and it does not end well.

Pius Ncube once stood as a respected cleric, a figure of moral weight and spiritual authority. But when he stepped into the arena of partisan politics, that authority did not translate into influence; it unravelled into controversy.

What was gained in visibility was lost in credibility. The lesson is neither abstract nor distant – it is immediate and unforgiving: the moment the Church crosses into partisan political terrain, it begins to erode the very foundation of its authority.”

He further asserted, “The Church’s power has never been in political alignment, but in principled distance. It exists to shape conscience, to call for discipline, to anchor a nation in values that outlast political cycles. Zimbabwe does not need clerics performing as political actors; it needs institutions capable of standing above the fray, commanding respect across divides.

The moment that line is crossed, the Church forfeits its unifying force and becomes indistinguishable from the noise it was meant to rise above.”

Goto’s remarks are seen as a pointed warning to church leaders who have opposed the 2030 term extension, suggesting that Zanu PF views religious criticism as a threat to its political agenda.

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