Soon after his historic annual Mvuma Musangano weRuwombeko, the prominent Johane the 5th of Africa International Church Founder, Archbishop, Dr Andby Makururu, flew to South Africa for his annual Regional Church engagements, carrying with him a strong theological message on leadership, unity and obedience to God-ordained authority.
Speaking on the Zimbabwe—Zambia Regional Cooperation Indaba between His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema , Archbishop Makururu said the convocation was “a diplomatic stride in the right direction,” arguing that such engagement between neighbouring Heads of State had long been overdue.
"President Mnangagwa is a sent Statesman of the Century. He is willing to engage across political divides reflecting his maturity and deep African wisdom in Regional diplomacy. The meeting has rendered powerless the hallucinations of Western detractors and imperial powers, who persistently attempt to erode the sovereignty and territorial integrity of African States. Africa’s path to total economic emancipation will only succeed when its leaders refuse to be pitted against each other and instead work together for the welfare of the Black people of the Great Continent of Africa."
He urged all Churches in Zimbabwe and Zambia to "Genuinely rally behind their leaders, because they are God’s chosen vessels."
Borrowing from classical theological scholarship on divine order, he said God blesses a people through the authority He appoints, and that citizens who submit to their leaders walk into the designs of God’s provision.
He explained that Scripture teaches that civil strife emerges from a breach of this sacred truth. Peace, unity and development, he said, are sustained when men and women honour their governing authorities as an act of obedience unto God. In his words, “God cannot bless a society ripped apart by unrest and political anarchy, because disorder interrupts the channels through which He pours wellbeing into a Nation.”
The Archbishop further argued that the Church must relate with the State on purely spiritual grounds rather than transactional motives, clarifying that he is not against empowerment initiatives by Heads of State and Government, but against heretical teachings that seek to manipulate the sacred office of the Altar for personal gain. Such conduct, he said, is an abomination that carries no place in the Great Continent of Africa.
He also encouraged citizens in the Great Republic of Zimbabwe’s opposition establishment to emulate President Hichilema’s approach, where opposition origins do not stand in the way of cooperating with the incumbent Head of State for the wider good. He said such maturity could transform opposition politics into an augmentation of the Ruling Party rather than a destabilising force, because “united we all stand, but divided we all again fall together.”
Through his rare diplomatic calling as an African Apostle, Dr Makururu continues to urge Christians across the Region to make it a priority, whenever they congregate, to first of all pray for their President, all National leaders, and all who carry leadership roles in various social orders—including parents and guardians. He said this is “good and acceptable service before God,” rooted in the belief that a peaceful Nation becomes a fertile ground for prosperity, while a Nation torn by strife becomes vulnerable to internal and external enemies.
From South Africa, Dr Makururu is scheduled to travel to Maputo and then Zambia before returning to his motherland, the Great Republic of Zimbabwe.