Mliswa Must Let the VP and Pastors Breathe \u2013 Mavaza<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u2019s interpreter.<\/p>\n The Sermon That Was Not a Statement The Vice President never mentioned His Excellency the President. He never mentioned ZANU PF succession. He mentioned the Word.<\/p>\n Yet before the Amen had cooled, Temba Mliswa anointed himself ZANU PF Spokesperson \u2014 a title he does not hold \u2014 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\u2019s shoe, measured it against the President, and declared it a perfect fit.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Temba\u2019s New Ministry: Ventriloquist-in-Chief 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?<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Freedom of Speech Must Mean Freedom After Speech We have freedom of worship, and that must be protected. One chooses the Catholic Church. Another chooses Mapositori. Another chooses ZAOGA. Another chooses \u201cMapositori a Wicknell\u201d \u2014 let Wicknell praise where he pleases. The altar is not ZANU PF headquarters. The Bible is not a Politburo document.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s sermon. Cease and desist.<\/p>\n The Precedent We Cannot Afford 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.<\/p>\n If we allow Temba to adjudicate sermons today, tomorrow he will adjudicate funerals, weddings, and baptisms. \u201cThat hymn was anti-President.\u201d \u201cThat prayer was factional.\u201d We will criminalize the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n Respect the Office, Respect the Altar You may disagree with the Vice President\u2019s politics. That is democracy. But you may not conscript his prayers into your press statement. That is desecration.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cParty position.\u201d<\/p>\n And to KUNDISHORA: if the shoe doesn\u2019t fit, stop forcing the President\u2019s foot into it. The country is watching. The church is watching. God is watching.<\/p>\n The Line We Must Draw We defend the President best when we defend the Constitution. And the Constitution defends the pulpit.<\/p>\n So let the preachers preach. Let the singers sing. Let Hezekiah be Hezekiah. And let Temba find a new hobby \u2014 preferably one that does not involve forging ZANU PF letterheads in his mouth.<\/p>\n \u201cTouch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm.\u201d Psalm 105:15<\/p>\n Zimbabwe is a Republic, not a rumour mill. The altar is not your audition stage, Hon. Mliswa.<\/p>\n Pasi nekunyepa muchechi. Pamberi nerusununguko rwekunamata.<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n \n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Mliswa-Must-Let-the-VP-and-Pastors-Breathe-%E2%80%93-Mavaza.jpeg?resize=525%2C595&ssl=1\")
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s position. He now speaks \u201con behalf of both the President and the party\u201d \u2014 unelected, unappointed, and unashamed.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s demonic hermeneutics before it is declared safe, then we do not have freedom. We have surveillance.<\/p>\n
History is loud on this point. In 2017, in Turkey, pastors were jailed for sermons the state thought were coded attacks. In 1980s Romania, Ceau\u0219escu\u2019s regime sent \u201cinterpreters\u201d to every church to report which Psalm sounded like dissent. That road ends with burnt Bibles and closed cathedrals.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\nRelated<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n