Christian-based and civic society organisations, who are conducting poll observation and peace-building activities, have launched “I pray, I vote” campaign aimed at encouraging people to register to vote in peace.
BY SILAS NKALA
Shalom Project Trust, led by Anglistone Sibanda, Habakkuk Trust led by Dumisani Nkomo, Bishop Ambrose Moyo-led Ecumenical Church Leaders’ Forum, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe are spearheading the campaign.
Sibanda said the organisations were working in partnership with Zimbabwe Peace Project and Amnesty International.
“We have been holding various programmes around peace-building and peace-monitoring in communities around Matabeleland and we continue to do that in partnership with organisations such as the Zimbabwe Peace Project and Amnesty International, among others,” he said.
“We have church leaders who work in almost every part of the community and we train them on peace-monitoring, peace-building, advocacy and social justice issues so that the church becomes relevant to the needs and issues affecting the people at grassroots level.”
Sibanda said Habakkuk Trust, in partnership with other CSOs and CBOs, had mobilised people to register to vote by holding sports tournaments, musical galas and community meetings.
“ZCC has led the ‘I pray, I vote’ campaign to mobilise Christians to vote. We are now working on deploying long-term and short-term observers in every community to monitor the freeness and fairness of the election period. We are working with partners such as the Zimbabwe Election Support Network and Election Resource Centre. At the same time, we are organising prayer rallies in various communities to pray for the country and for peace during the election time while using those platforms to mobilise Christians to go and vote,” he said.
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Sibanda said they were also doing projects that were aimed at empowering community members, particularly youths and women, thereby dismantling the structures of violence in communities.
He said politicians tended to use people’s poverty and vulnerability to their advantage such that the poor citizens voted with their stomachs not their minds.
“Some are used as instruments of violence during the campaign period. Empowering them through agriculture skills and also giving them start up loans to run agri-projects helps in a way to contribute towards a free, fair and credible election that helps in an environment where poverty is not a tool for manipulating the electorate and, as Shalom Project, we are also seized with this project” Sibanda said.
“As a collective, we are basically in every part of Matabeleland and some parts of Midlands.”
