The Sunday Mail
Desire Ncube
THE Harare City Council is displeased with the rate at which offices in the central business district are being converted into churches, and could soon seize assets of noisy gatherings that are disturbing the peace.
Harare acting corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme said the council could be forced to effect legal provisions allowing authorities to confiscate instruments used in churches, as well as public address systems and chairs.
Mr Chideme said their main concern was not churches that conduct lunch and after hours services, but those that do their main business in the CBD.
This follows several complaints from businesses in the city centre about the noise emanating from CBD-based churches.
Several churches have taken over vacant office space in the CBD, converting it into places of worship. Some of the offices that have been converted into churches in Harare are Kingston House, Century House West and Manica House among many others.
Mr Chideme said council could not stand by while churches breached noise pollution by-laws, as well as a 1974 Statutory Instrument (461/74) that forbids unauthorised changes in land use.
“Once we have discovered that an office has been turned into a church we engage the owner of the property through a letter, and copy it to the property users to bring to their attention the by-laws they are violating. We also bring to their attention what they must do to correct the anomaly.
“If the activity persists after giving them the letters, council serves an enforcement and prohibition order on the offending church gathering.
“It must, however, be noted that for lunch time prayers only, the activity is not a complete conversion of use of a property and it is, therefore, difficult to serve them any papers. But any such gathering should get the necessary clearance,” he said.
Mr Chideme stressed that the council had no vendetta with churches, but that they should conduct their activities in harmony with city by-laws.
Director of Zimbabwe Christian Alliance Reverend Useni Sibanda, in a Workers Day message, said churches should not take over office premises or industries as that could worsen the economic situation.
“Instead of churches taking over offices, they should actually be working on reviving industry because church services cannot substitute production of labour,” said Rev Sibanda. “We believe that when God created man, he created labour and it (labour) is part of the means of production.”
A survey by The Sunday Mail Religion in the CBD last week indicated that most churches that have converted offices into worship places were aware of council’s by-laws but defied them nonetheless.
A number declined to comment on the issue.
Overseer Clemence Tazviona of The Lord’s Tabernacle of Grace Ministries International said the CBD was accessible to many hence they wanted to operate from there.
“We are here because this place is central, our congregants come from different locations. We know that the city council is against this but we have no option. In the event that they order us to vacate we will just obey and wait for God to show us another way,” Overseer Tazviona said.
