Mliswa Must Let the VP and Pastors Breathe – Mavaza – Eduzim News

By Masimba Mavaza | In Zimbabwe, the Constitution is not a suggestion. Section 60 guarantees freedom of conscience, thought, and religion. Section 61 guarantees freedom of expression. Together they mean this: a man may preach, and a man may hear, without Temba Mliswa appointing himself the Holy Spirit’s interpreter.

The Sermon That Was Not a Statement
Vice President, General Constantino Chiwenga, stood in the pulpit and did what preachers have done for 2,000 years: he opened the Bible. He told the story of King Hezekiah. 2 Kings 20; Isaiah 38. Hezekiah was sick, faced death, prayed, and God added 15 years to his life. It was a sermon on prayer, humility, and divine mercy.

The Vice President never mentioned His Excellency the President. He never mentioned ZANU PF succession. He mentioned the Word.

Yet before the Amen had cooled, Temba Mliswa anointed himself ZANU PF Spokesperson — a title he does not hold — and rushed to translate the sermon into a political attack. He was joined by the chorus of KUNDISHORA, all suddenly fluent in prophecy. They took the Vice President’s shoe, measured it against the President, and declared it a perfect fit.

But here is the truth: General Chiwenga provided a shoe. Those who identified with it were quick to put it on. The guilt is not in the sermon. The guilt is in the conscience that claimed it.

Temba’s New Ministry: Ventriloquist-in-Chief
We all know Temba never liked Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa. He has spoken ill of him in public and in private. Yet today, Temba has taken Cde Mutsvangwa’s position. He now speaks “on behalf of both the President and the party” — unelected, unappointed, and unashamed.

Since when did ZANU PF outsource its voice to a man who holds no politburo portfolio, no Central Committee seat, no department? Since when does the President need a self-imposed interpreter to tell the nation what a Bible story means?

This is not analysis. This is appropriation. It is dangerous. It turns the pulpit into a press conference and the Word of God into a weapon of factionalism.

Freedom of Speech Must Mean Freedom After Speech
Zimbabwe has freedom of speech. But that freedom is neutered if it is not also freedom after speech. If every sermon must pass through Temba’s demonic hermeneutics before it is declared safe, then we do not have freedom. We have surveillance.

We have freedom of worship, and that must be protected. One chooses the Catholic Church. Another chooses Mapositori. Another chooses ZAOGA. Another chooses “Mapositori a Wicknell” — let Wicknell praise where he pleases. The altar is not ZANU PF headquarters. The Bible is not a Politburo document.

When a Vice President preaches, he is a Christian first and a cadre second. When he quotes Hezekiah, he is not tabling a motion. He is teaching faith. Temba Mliswa must stop his demonic interpretations of General Chiwenga’s sermon. Cease and desist.

The Precedent We Cannot Afford
History is loud on this point. In 2017, in Turkey, pastors were jailed for sermons the state thought were coded attacks. In 1980s Romania, Ceaușescu’s regime sent “interpreters” to every church to report which Psalm sounded like dissent. That road ends with burnt Bibles and closed cathedrals.

Zimbabwe fought for liberation so that a man could worship without asking the District Administrator which verse is allowed. We did not defeat colonialism to create a theocracy of political spin doctors.

If we allow Temba to adjudicate sermons today, tomorrow he will adjudicate funerals, weddings, and baptisms. “That hymn was anti-President.” “That prayer was factional.” We will criminalize the Holy Spirit.

Respect the Office, Respect the Altar
General Chiwenga is the Vice President of the Republic. He is also a communicant. He has a right to worship, to cite Scripture, to weep before God, without his Amen being dissected by men who were not elected to be bishops.

You may disagree with the Vice President’s politics. That is democracy. But you may not conscript his prayers into your press statement. That is desecration.

Temba, if you want to be Spokesperson, contest for the post. Write to the Secretary for Information. Be appointed. Until then, stop draping your personal vendettas in the flag and calling it “Party position.”

And to KUNDISHORA: if the shoe doesn’t fit, stop forcing the President’s foot into it. The country is watching. The church is watching. God is watching.

The Line We Must Draw
Freedom of worship means a Catholic can preach Hezekiah without being accused of plotting a coup. It means a Mapositori can dance without being called a faction. It means the Vice President can be a Christian in public without Temba Mliswa turning the sanctuary into a courtroom.

We defend the President best when we defend the Constitution. And the Constitution defends the pulpit.

So let the preachers preach. Let the singers sing. Let Hezekiah be Hezekiah. And let Temba find a new hobby — preferably one that does not involve forging ZANU PF letterheads in his mouth.

“Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” Psalm 105:15

Zimbabwe is a Republic, not a rumour mill. The altar is not your audition stage, Hon. Mliswa.

Pasi nekunyepa muchechi. Pamberi nerusununguko rwekunamata.

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