Harare, 23 August, 2023 / 8:56 pm (ACI Africa).
Members of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) are urging the electorate in the Southern African nation to “vote peacefully” in the country’s On Wednesday, August 23 general elections.
Zimbabweans are to vote for presidential and parliamentary candidates in an election that is considered crucial in determining the future of a southern African nation, Reuters reported.
The incumbent, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is seeking re-election “after a first term during which runaway inflation, currency shortages and sky-high unemployment left many Zimbabweans reliant on dollar remittances from relatives abroad to make ends meet,” according to Reuter’s August 23 report.
In a message ahead of the polls, ZCBC members say elections which run concurrently with the Catholic Church's celebration of the Synod on Synodality should be characterized by the gospel of communion and participation in the mission of building the nation.
“The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC), through its social arm of justice and peace, would like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to go and vote peacefully,” the Catholic Church leaders say in their Tuesday, August 22 message, which Bishop Rudolf Nyandoro read at a press conference.