HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change, has created a political firestorm after announcing plans to base its rule on Christian values in the event it wins power in this month’s elections.

In its election manifesto ahead of the Aug. 23 general election, CCC — led by lawyer Nelson Chamisa, who is also an Apostolic Faith Mission pastor — highlighted plans to run a government based on Christian values. That has prompted strident outcries from even some of its own members.

CCC’s Chamisa will, for the second time, challenge President Emmerson Mnangagwa after garnering 44.3% of the vote in the 2018 election. Chamisa poses a serious threat to Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party, which has ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1980.

Since 2000, the opposition has won nearly half of the seats in Parliament and has also controlled virtually all urban local authorities. When the party launched its election campaign in July, Chamisa declared that he wanted God-fearing individuals to represent the CCC.

Zimbabwe is a secular nation, although Christianity in its various denominations is the dominant religion. However Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and the traditional religion also command sizeable followings. Religious freedom is guaranteed in the country’s constitution.

A God-fearing nation

In the 100-page manifesto, the CCC party says that one of its strategies for restoring the fortunes of the troubled southern African nation is to “reinstate” Christian values.

Section 1.3.1 of the manifesto reads:

A God-Fearing Nation — God First — God Is In It. We will restore Zimbabwe back to God in honor, values, faith, worship and praise. We will give glory to God for all our victories, successes and gains. We will restore the role of the church as the custodians and guardians of conscience, morals and ethics of society.

The church shall provide a campus (sic) to government speaking truth to power. In this regard, we will create a special mechanisms, structure and institution to facilitate for the role of the church in governance. We shall dedicate nation, country, its people and resources to God for His glory.

We will rededicate Zimbabwe to God and rebuild the alter (sic), covenant, decrees and ordinances. The CITIZENS GOVERNMENT will create a conducive and an enabling environment for churches to worship God. Zimbabwe shall be known as a place of salvation, healing, redemption and restoration to the glory of God the Creator. Zimbabwe shall be known for religious tourism and visitation.

Political opponents have found fault with this declaration. Even some of the party’s supporters and sympathizers have called it to order, insisting that Zimbabwe should remain a secular state with a place for all religions.

‘No’ to theocracy

Influential journalist and social commentator Hopewell Chin’ono — himself a Christian — warned that the CCC should “avoid getting itself entangled in emotional arguments of faith and religion.”

Commenting on social media, Chin’ono said: “Zimbabwe doesn’t need a theocracy run by Christians because we have Muslims, Hindus, traditional religion folk, and even atheists who are Zimbabweans. They are all bona fide citizens who should not feel ostracized because one belief has been put ahead of others.”

Christianity was introduced in Zimbabwe by European missionaries in the mid-1800s and was later entrenched during the 90 years of British colonial rule (1890-1980).

According to the 2017 Inter Censal Demography Survey by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, 84.1% of Zimbabweans are a member of a Christian denomination. Of those who identify themselves as Christians, 74.8% are Protestant, 7.3% are Roman Catholic and 5.3% are other Christian denominations. The other 2.1% of Zimbabweans identify with other faiths such as traditional beliefs (2%) or Islam (1%), and 10.5% do not identify with any faith.

Chin’ono argued that the opposition should just promise to run the state professionally without religion dictates.

“Zimbabwe should always be a secular state where every citizen feels protected by the state regardless of their religious views,” he said. “My view is that politicians should keep their faith to themselves and not impose their beliefs on everyone else. More importantly, they should avoid putting things in manifestos that will take away focus from real issues of hospitals, schools, jobs, economy, infrastructure and related issues.”

U.K.-based Zimbabwean political analyst Simukai Tinhu also protested.

“This is not the direction that we will want as a country,” he said. “Men and women of (all) religions should be part of the new nation. This section needs to be scrapped altogether.”

Award-winning filmmaker and novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga also expressed her disappointment.

“Well, that’s it for me. What a pity,” she quipped.

The state-controlled daily, The Herald, accused Chamisa of seeking to violate the country’s constitutionally protected freedom of worship.

Rey Gwisai, a Zimbabwean actor, argued that the African country was never previously a Christian society, pointing to the prevalence of traditional cultural practices in the country. He questioned the context in which terms “rededicate” and “restore” were used in the manifesto.

Supporters claim misunderstanding

In the face of the harsh criticism the party faced over this clause in its manifesto, some CCC supporters sought to defend the manifesto, arguing that the party’s detractors were deliberately choosing to misunderstand “the church” to exclude other religions, which they claimed was not true.

Both Chamisa and CCC spokesperson Fadzai Mahere did not respond to requests from Religion Unplugged for clarification on the clause.

However, Chamisa’s legal advisor Thabani Mpofu defended the party’s position, saying that the preamble of the country’s constitution reads, “Acknowledging the supremacy of Almighty God, in whose hands our future lies, and imploring the guidance and support of Almighty God.”

In contrast the opposition CCC, President Mnangagwa and his party embrace all religions, regularly holding interfaith prayer sessions while public officials take oath of office in whatever way suit their faiths.

In recent years the government of Zimbabwe has also made sure that some Muslims are included on the judicial bench.

No reason to panic

Shepherd Mpofu, a Zimbabwean academic who is an associate professor of media and digital humanities at the University of South Africa, told Religion Unplugged that the statement in the CCC manifesto is poorly thought out and poorly phrased — but should not be reason for panic.

“I do not think the statement in the CCC campaign manifesto is anything to be taken as a threat to non-Christians,” Mpofu said. “Zimbabwe is 75% plus Christian, and the party might have seen the need to assert and buttress that. The church in Zimbabwe has played a both constructive and destructive role and I assume CCC is appealing to the positive role of the church. We know churches that have supported ZANU-PF (the ruling party) and given the party access for certain benefits such as land. We know of church leaders who have chosen to ignore ZANU-PF violence.”

He added: “Also, we know of churches that have been the voice of the voiceless, especially the Catholic Church. For me this is not even an upgrade of Christianity above others, but it is about noticing the influential role the church has a potential to play. The section might have been poorly thought out and phrased, but it is not reason for panic.”

Cyril Zenda is a Christian and an African journalist and writer based in Harare, Zimbabwe.