History has it that the same government that Paul exonerated became a sponsor of persecution of innocent Christians. As alluded to above, Nero was the first to torture and persecute Christians and it is alleged that both Peter and Paul face martyrdom under him (Buttrick 1954: 599). Many commentators on Romans argue that, Rom 13:1-7 is detrimentally opposite to Revelation 13 which emphatically denounces the state or the rulers of the day as diabolic beast, a monster and anti-Christ (Bornkamm 1986:213). Others contend that if Paul had lived a little longer than the date of writing Romans(ca AD 56/58), could had probably regretted or revoked his prior “state theology” in Rom 13:1-7 because the same Nero who had appeared to be “politically friendly” to the Christians had be- come a terror and a persecutor of Christians as attested above.
Manipulation of Romans 13:1-7 by selected “court” Prophets
To start with, after the signing of the Unity Accord (22 Dec 1987) be- tween Patriotic Front: Zimbabwe African People’s Unity (P.F. Z.A.P.U.),
and Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZA.N.U. P.F.), that marked the birth of a one party state in Zimbabwe. That is, ZANU PF enjoyed monopoly because the opposition parties of the day prior to 1999/2000 such as Edgar Tekere’s Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) did not pose serious threats to ZANU PF. During this period president Robert Mugabe was exonerated as an excellent leader whose charges were seemingly unquestionable. Even though the government had its own short comings such as the negative effects of the Economic Struc- tural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) most Zimbabweans still pasted their hopes on the government of the day. Both in religious and political circles Rom 13:1-7 was rarely quoted.
However, with the advent of a meaningful opposition party the Move- ment for Democratic Change (M.D.C.) in 1998/9, this text started to be the talk of the day. Orthodox ZANU PF “faithfuls” reiterated that Mug- abe and their party was ordained by God, therefore there was no room for any dissenting voices, every citizen was compelled to adhere to the status quo. These masqueraded as war veterans, patriotic Zimbabweans, nationalists and so forth. It is interesting to note that, most of these political cadres who used this passage do not even know “the door steps of any church,” let alone the pages of the bible. They simply adopted the text from some eland church members or clergy who eisegete Paul’s message.
This was the era of the so-called court prophets such as the self- proclaimed and illegitimate Anglican bishop Norbert Kunonga, Rev Utaunashe, Obadiah Musindo, Rev Andrew Malete and Elizabeth Chi- nouriri, as well as the Johane Marange and Johane Masowe sects (who always throng national events such as heroes and independence com- memorations in their church regalia). They demonised the MDC as a brainchild of the West and its allies targeting a regime change agenda in Zimbabwe. Whether such allegations were true or false but one can easily tell that such rhetoric was meant to authenticate the government of the day as ordained by God and the ancestors. It is common knowl- edge that many people in the 21st century are clamouring for a democ-
ratic society where everyone is free to express his or her democratic right that include political association. Therefore, to claim that one political party is sovereign and must not be challenged is deemed to be primitive and undemocratic. We cannot smoothly apply Paul’s context as reflected in Rom 13:1-7 because the Roman government was not democratically
elected, it was an imperial government. Roy Musasiwa assets that we now leave in a “democracy,” and not as a theocracy, it is therefore, false to say that any party or any setoff rulers are given by god because we now choose or elect the leaders as the electorate (The Christian Voice 2009:2).
In the year 2000 the Zimbabwean government embarked on a national campaign to draft a home grown constitution (because the one that was operational was the Lancaster House Constitution). However, after a landslide vote against this draft in a referendum because it represented the interest of the ruling powers and not the wishes of the general popu- lace, the government started to embark on enacting oppressive bills such as and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (A.I.P.PA) and Public Order and Security Act (P.O.S.A.) that robbed people of their rights and freedoms especially as clearly outlined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. These bills were master minded by the then minister of information and pub- licity Jonathan Moyo. All such efforts were indirectly meant to safeguard the ouster of the ruling party under the disguise of the theory that the government is ordained by God and that anyone who oppose it or dis- obey will be punished. It is alleged that many innocent people suffered imprisonment and torture because they had uttered statements that were against the president or the presidium (African Identities Vl 2 No. 2 :117). This forced the closure of independent media such as the Daily News and its Sunday edition. More so, treason charges were leveled against the leader of the opposition Morgan Tsvangirayi and his close lieutenants Roy Benett and Tendai Biti on allegations of plotting to as- sassinate the president. (www.abc.net.au/news/ stories/2004/ 01/10) The case is alleged to have cost our poor government billions of dollars in paying notorious Canadian conman Ari Ben Menashe. All these at- tempts were meant to protect the ailing or collapsing Mugabe regime. During this period we witnessed the mushrooming of a self-styled pastor without a “potfolio” (one who hardly had theological education, without a church or any parish) in the name of Obadiah Musindo who masquer- aded as ministers of religion. Musindo blandly claimed that Mugabe should not be opposed because he was ordained by God hence his rule was immune and sovereign by quoting Rom 13 : 1-7 in the state media. During the 2002 Zimbabwean presidential elections, 2005 Parliamentary elections, 28 March 2008 harmonised elections and 27 June 2008 presi-
dential runoff elections, Musindo and bishop Kunonga openly supported the ruling party basing their claims on Rom 13:1-7. They urged the elec- torate to vote for Robert Mugabe and his party ZANU PF because he was chosen and ordained by God. For instance, Kunonga was quoted in the local Herald newspaper (Monday 10 March 2008) urging Zimbabweans to vote for Mugabe in the 29 March 2008 presidential elections because he was Zimbabwe’s anointed leader. He reiterated that
“as a church we see the president with different eyes. To us he is a prophet of God who was sent to deliver the people of Zimbabwe from bondage. God raised him to acquire our land and distribute it to Zimbabweans; we call it democracy of the stomach….”
We wonder which church Kunonga was making reference to? A close analysis of his speech clearly stresses that he indirectly made reference to Rom 13:1-7 and Old Testament messianic texts such as Jer 23:5 and Zech 9:9ff. To him Mugabe has messianic qualities, that is, a prophet (a prototype of Moses) and an anointed leader. It is sad to note that the land that Kunonga claims that Mugabe distributed to the people through chaotic means and most deserving poor masses did not benefit. The process was haphazard, bloody and racist. This view is clearly attested in the ecumenical document entitled The Zimbabwe We Want (2005), where the Zimbabwean heads of churches lament that while land redis- tribution was noble, “but regrettably it was done in a haphazard man- ner.”
The submissions of the bishops were lambasted by political analysts who were rather sympathetic to ZANU PF. The trio, Dr C Mararike, Dr Chivaura, and Professor I Mupepereki, were on record denouncing the role of the church in politics and demonising “The Zimbabwe We Want” document in a televised program called Dzimbabwe (ZBCtv Dzim- babwe-Sundays 2005 18.30hrs) chaired by Mararike. In most of their state sponsored air space they underscored that the church was there to obey the government of the day because God instituted it (thus an indi- rect usage of Pauline state theology). It is important to note that, Presi- dent Mugabe also gradually developed his own ‘theology of land’ in which he reiterated that God had set aside Zimbabwe as the sacred space for black people. Addressing a packed auditorium at the Harare Interna- tional Conference Centre on the Day of National Prayer on 12 January 2002, Mugabe maintained that God had parcelled out the world accord- ing to racial origin. (Chitando 2005).
For Mararike and company the church should leave politics to politicians and concentrate on the pulpit. In a way, these political analysts were using the bible to quarantine the church from political affairs as if to suggest that she had no role or influence in such matters. Indeed they missed the mark because the church is a crucial partner in political affairs where she acted as the voice of the voiceless, advocate for democ- racy and democratic reforms without fear or favour, protect the rights of the poor and advocate for justice.
Furthermore, the Zimbabwean government tormented the lives of the poor masses when it embarked on a dubious and miscalculated opera- tion called Murambatsvina (Operation Restore Order or Clean up) be- tween May and June 2005 In the Murambasvina, people were deeply wounded and in fact dehumanized by being treated as synonymous with dirt or chaff. This touched the raw nerve of a people disenchanted by the powers that be. Some people, particularly in Hatcliffe and Whitecliffe areas, felt anger at being cheated by government ministers who in previ- ous election campaigns had allocated them stands, and it was these very minister(s) who were now demolishing their houses and evicting them into the streets! They witnessed irresponsible schizophrenic behaviour on the part of the minister (Ignatius Chombo) spearheading the opera- tion. In an election campaign gimmick, Chombo allocated stands to people who consequently put their hard-earned resources together and developed their properties according to their means. The same minister came a few years later with a different political agenda and wantonly destroyed these properties putting people into the streets. One picture (in The Herald of 6 June 2005) that remains fresh in the minds of many is of a child returning from school only to find the bulldozer breaking down the family house. Certainly this was a traumatic experience that will probably haunt the child for the rest of his life. This move by the government could had been better if clear plans were set in place to deal with the issue like financial resources and alternative housing for the displaced masses. The Zimbabwean Heads of Churches lament that the destruction of poor people’s shelter and their means of lively hood be- fore any alternatives were provided caused great suffering (ZCBC, EFZ and ZCC 2006). Hundreds of thousands of people, including women and children found themselves homeless in the middle of winter and later the onset of the rain season. Some victims of this operation were denied their right to access social services like education, health, water