The Sunday Mail
Desire Ncube – Sunday Mail Reporter
OPEN-air worshippers in Harare will ignore proposed city council regulations unless they are first allocated land to conduct their activities.
Under the Harare (Control of Worship in Open Spaces) By-law 2015, it will be prohibited to worship in open spaces without a permit showing council approval.
The by-law seeks to compel open-air worshippers to put up ablution facilities and guarantee potable water.
A part of the draft likely to cause controversy is the proposal that worship be restricted to between 10am and 6pm.
Harare City director of Housing and Community Services Ms Josephine Ncube has described open-air worship as a nuisance which needs to be addressed.
Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe leader Bishop Johannes Ndanga said their affiliates felt the city was “treating home-grown churches as slaves and second-class citizens”.
“Let me set the record straight: it is not the council or any local authority that came up with this idea (to put ablution facilities).
“This was our idea as the Vapositori which I personally took to our members after which I approached the council.
“After our consultations with the Vapositori, the director of works in the council, Engineer Philip Pfukwa, called us. We then held a meeting at Town House as different churches. I plainly told them then that local authorities should allocate us land so that we can safely develop our worship sites.
“The root problem has never been the construction of ablution facilities, but the acquisition of city land. If we have title deeds to the land everything else will flow.” He said the by-law would affect an estimated two million open-air worshippers in Harare whose churches are affiliated to ACCZ.
“Numerous times we applied for land, but we are constantly treated as slaves and second-class citizens.
“The conditions that they set especially Harare City Council are inhibitive. Indigenous churches cannot bear them.
“Council cannot expect people to accept such a law when most, if not all, Apostolic churches do not own even a small piece of land. Council has a propensity to resort to auctioning stands while some are sold through sneaky deals.
“We are the ones who requested our members to put up ablution facilities in the areas that they use. But because they do not have title deeds to this land and the fact that there are no sewers or water lines from council, it is difficult to envisage the kind of facilities they would put up.
“As ACCZ we have plans to construct good flushing toilets that meet international standards but our dreams are being shattered by council which is refusing to allocate us land.
“Nobody wants cholera or an outbreak of any other disease. But we feel council is biased against indigenous churches.
“We are of the opinion that council must adopt a deliberate policy to allow apostolic sect churches to own the places they worship from. Not for free but at an agreeable fee,” added Bishop Ndanga.
“If churches like the Anglicans, Roman Catholics and many other traditional churches were assisted and supported by their government in acquiring land back then, why can’t our people help us?” he questioned.
Council spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme: “It is a proposed draft by-law which went through council and has since been approved. The by-law now awaits public deposit in which it will be scrutinised and objections raised.
“These objections from the public will inform either additions or subtraction to the by-law before it is forwarded to the Minister of Local Government, (Public Works and National Housing) for approval.
“All I can say is that an advert is coming soon.”
