ON May 30, 2014, Budiriro 2 high-density suburb turned into a war zone, after the Madzibaba Ishmael-led Johane Masowe Echishanu apostolic sect members ran amok following the announcement that their church had been banned over a raft of malpractices.
BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
The rogue shepherd’s staff-wielding sect members could not stomach the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ)’s decision and responded by attacking journalists, police officers and ACCZ members.
A number of people were seriously injured while Madzibaba Ishmael — real name Ishmael Chokurongerwa Mufani — was later arrested in Mutoko after fleeing from the police.
He is currently serving time in prison.
The sect was accused of marrying off children, barring members from seeking medical treatment and preventing children from attending school.
Madzibaba Ishmael’s incarceration was the first massive bite by ACCZ, a body that governs more than 3 000 apostolic sects, who then had embarked on a journey to end child marriages, among other child and women rights abuses.
Traditionally, most apostolic sects are well known for weird doctrines that largely oppress women and infringe on children’s rights.
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A number of young girls have been married off to patriarchs, claiming they were instructed to do so through divine visions and dreams.
On the other hand, pregnant women are not allowed to give birth at hospitals, a move that has resulted in a high maternal mortality rate within apostolic churches.
In their endeavour to end women and child rights abuses, ACCZ recently established a Gender and Child Care Unit to ensure the protection of women’s and children’s rights as envisioned in the country’s Constitution.
Recently, over 5 000 apostolic youths and women converged in Harare for the first-ever conference that was meant to discuss issues like child marriages and gender-based violence (GBV), among other human rights abuses.
ACCZ’s Gender and Child Care Unit leader Busani Sibanda said the conference was meant to equip the women and children on human rights-related issues.
“We are totally against child marriages and all forms of GBVs and this is the reason why we held the first-ever national conference to fight against these social vices. We were overwhelmed by the turnout and this shows that the message is getting to the people,” he said.
“We seek to scout for solutions that empower, protect and champion the well-being of women, children and the youths who constitute the majority vulnerable to poverty, abuse and marginalisation in churches and mainstream society.
“To foster child development, the unit successfully conducted an anti-child marriage campaign under the theme Zero Tolerance to Child Marriages. The campaign was hinged on the premise that if people know more about the causes and effects of child marriages to families, churches and the nation, hence they can do more to eradicate this practice, creating resilient, empowered and progressive churches, communities and country.”
Moreover, the apostolic sects have launched ward level-based groups in every province that advocate for human rights as well as providing assistance to victims of child marriages and reporting human rights abuses perpetrators to police.
“We now have representatives based in the wards in every province, who are advocates of child and women human rights. They assist victims and report any cases of child marriages and GBV, among others,” Sibanda added.
“We have also come up with a school fees fund that is meant to support orphaned and other vulnerable girls, so that they don’t fall victim to sex predators who want to bail them through marriages. We realised that the main driver of child marriages is poverty and, hence, we thought of empowering vulnerable young girls by sending them to school.”
According to the government, through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, over 4 500 minors have dropped out of school due to child marriages countrywide this year alone, of which 3 955 are girls and 264 boys.
Addressing scores of children and women during the official launch of this year’s edition of 16 Days of Activism Against GBV in Harare, ACCZ president Johannes Ndanga said the apostolic sects were calling for 365 days of activism against GBV, instead of 16.
“Child marriages are a thing of the past within the apostolic sects and we are urging all those who are still following such practices. If one dreams of marrying of a 10-year-old girl and says God has revealed this to him, the question we need to ask is: With all the widows and single mothers in the church, why is the prophet failing to dream about marrying them?” he asked mockingly.
“We are also against GBV in the country. We are all created in the image of God and there is no need to beat or harass someone who was specially created by God. However, there is need for economic empowerment of women, because this is the sustainable key approach to eradicate violence against women.”
Ndanga added that there is need for the country’s marriage laws to be speedily and urgently realigned to the 2013 Constitution to ensure that 18 years subsists as the age of consent sex and as the legal age of marriage.
Studies have shown that women who control their own resources are less vulnerable to abuse because of their gender.
According to the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey findings, more than one in three women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15.
Meanwhile, non-governmental organisations have commended the role being played by Vapostori in fighting against GBV and child marriages.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) assistant country representative Abigail Musemburi said a positive result was being yielded in working along with various stakeholders to reduce child marriage rates as well as GBV.
“We are happy with the recent landmark court ruling, a move that will see the country achieving a positive result in ending child marriages. As UNFPA, we are working well with various stakeholders including government to fight GBV and children rights abuses,” she said.
“We are happy to announce that we have established four one-stop centres in different provinces, with more yet to be established as we intensify our campaign to end GBV.
“At these centres, victims will find all forms of assistance without moving from one office to the other. There will be counsellors, lawyers and so on. We have worked closely with ACCZ and we are making progress towards ending all those ills.”
Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development minister Nyasha Chikwinya said there was need for a multi-sectoral approach in fighting against GBVs before hailing efforts by the apostolic sect to stamp out the heinous act.
“To effectively prevent and respond to GBV, a co-ordinated multi-sectoral approach is needed. We want to unite and strengthen our collaborative efforts in working with all critical stakeholders who have a role to play in addressing GBV,” she said.
“I am calling upon traditional leaders, churches, the police, the courts and all of us as individuals to step up our efforts to address this scourge that we are faced with. I recognise the great work within the apostolic sects or ACCZ in addressing issues of child marriage and GBV. Their support towards national programmes does not go unnoticed and we are totally grateful for this.”
