By Lloyd Takawira
The Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denomination (ZHOCD) has requested clarity on ‘grey areas’ in government’s statement on reopening of churches to only fully vaccinated congregants citing it will be hard to turn away others.
This comes after government’s decision to allow sit-in congregants who have been fully vaccinated.
While welcoming the move to allow them to congregate, the churches said that government didn’t clarify on a lot of issues.
“The church cautiously appreciate the process of opening up society, business and the public after almost 2 years of restrictions due to covid-19. Though welcomed by the churches, this staggered opening of churches on condition of being vaccinated raises both theological and practical challenges. The Church will find it very difficult to turn people home because they do not have a vaccination certificate.
“There are several grey areas that will need to be clarified so that the implementation of the decision to open the churches can be done smoothly. The health ministry is asked to provide the detailed protocol for reopening churches clarifying all the grey areas such as how the licence affects those below the age of 18 who are not being vaccinated.
“Practically, less than 10 percent of the population has been vaccinated. There is a group of citizens that does not get vaccinated due to age or because they have not yet had a chance to be vaccinated,” the churches said.
The opening of churches has opened a pandora box, with some sections of the society arguing the move by government is ill conceived.
Independent Norton member of parliament Honourable Temba Mliswa said that government decision on church services will promote corruption.
“The challenge with this approach is it opens the opportunity for discrimination. Once there’s a shortage of vaccinations and people are segregated along such lines, it has the propensity to foster corruption and the emergence of fake certificates.”