by Learnmore Mufunge

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reiterated that the country does not need external mediators in dialogue and stressed that the country had home grown solutions to the socio-economic challenges it is facing.

President Mnangagwa said this while giving his key note address during the Zimbabwe Indigenous Churches Interdenominational Conference held at the National Sports stadium last Saturday.

“We appreciate churches for showing us what unity is all about as leaders. We have learnt from the churches that it is possible for different people from different backgrounds to come and work together without seeking international mediation.

“We as political leaders will also emulate and come together in order to come up with solutions to the problems we are facing,” said the President.

President Mnangagwa urged the nation to emulate the churches and stand together and be united while putting differences aside for a common goal.

“We should work together for one common aspiration in our country, let us put aside our differences,” he said. 

On the issue of corruption, the President promised that Government would intensify the fight against the vice and urged the church to continue setting the pace as the country works towards the middle income economy by 2030.

“Government will strengthen the fight against corruption and any form of violence in the country. The church should also continue to be exemplary as we work towards middle income economy. Churches have spoken that we should work hard as citizens, let us adopt that, let us rise and build our nation Zimbabwe,” he said.

He appreciated the call by churches for the unconditional removal of the illegal sanctions on the country while urging churches to prioritise Government policy and programmes.

“We want to thank churches for calling for the removal of sanctions and I would like to encourage them to also prioritise Government policies and programmes. The Government is apparently rolling out the devolution program which churches should also support,” he stressed.

President Mnangagwa acknowledged the role being played by the churches in upholding national healing and urged the churches to pray against natural disasters.

“We acknowledge the role being played by the churches in upholding national healing. We will pray together against all forms of natural disasters. We may be facing challenges but together as one, we may fight.”

The President also promised the christian community that land will be availed to them so that they build their churches.

“Churches will be allocated land to build churches. I will direct the responsible authorities to look into the matter with urgency,” he promised.