Christian Leaders in Eswatini Urge Bereaved Families “to be calm” amid Heightened Emotions

The humanitarian organization has also recorded six missing persons and another 150 protesters hospitalized for injuries that include gunshot wounds.

In the July 8 statement, representatives of Christian leaders in Eswatini note “with shock” the number of deaths recorded during demonstrations in recent weeks.

“This worries the church as the scriptures say that only God the Creator has the power to take a person’s life,” they say, and add, “What we have witnessed though is in direct contrast with the scripture.”

The church leaders invite the people of God in Eswatini to a reflection exercise about the past, present and future.

“What has been unfolding in this country in the past weeks needs the attention and concern of everyone. The country needs to do introspection on where we are coming from, where we are and where we want to go from here. We hope that this exercise will help prevent what happened,” they say. 

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The Christian leaders also say there is need to have memorial services and national prayers for the Southern African country over the weekend. 

“However, due to the prevailing circumstances we plead with families and church members to please conduct prayers in all churches this weekend,” they say and call on Pastors in the various churches to facilitate prayers for the bereaved families and the injured.

The representatives of church leaders also ask Pastors to include, in the prayer intentions, prisoners, those whose whereabouts are unknown, and the people whose property has been destroyed. 

“We pray for the wisdom from God Almighty that as the nation engages in the journey of healing from the happenings of the past weeks, God may direct all our thoughts,” CSC representatives say in their July 8 statement.

The church leaders also emphasize the importance of peaceful talks to address the situation saying, “nothing will beat dialogue among people.”

“Let all parties express their views freely and be respected as tolerance and acceptance will help the country going forward,” they say, and add, “The respect for human rights will prevent the bloodshed and destruction of property we have just witnessed.” 

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA), has called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to intervene by asking the Eswatini government to withdraw the military from the streets. 

The Chairperson of the ecumenical organization made up of 12 national Councils in East and Southern Africa, Kenneth Mtata, noted that unlike the police, the military are essentially trained to “kill” and hence cannot manage public protests appropriately.

Mr. Mtata who was speaking at a virtual press briefing on July 8 asked SADC members to come up with measures that will settle the Eswatini conflict.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.