(Last Updated on February 13, 2016 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – As pressure mounts for the safe return of missing activist Itai Dzamara, a local church says they are planning to engage President Robert Mugabe so that he orders the State to commit itself to finding the disappeared former journalist.
On Tuesday the Dzamara family and supporters commemorated 11 months since Itai’s disappearance with a prayer meeting at Harare’s Africa Unity Square where the activist used to stage protests against Mugabe.
At that gathering, Patson Dzamara, brother to Itai, vowed to continue challenging the State to search for and bring back his brother.
He also appealed to Zimbabweans for support in pressing the Mugabe administration to search for their missing family member.
Meanwhile, in an interview with NewZimbabwe.com in Harare Thursday, Zimbabwe Devine Destiny church leader and Itai Dzamara Trust board chair Bishop Ancelimo Magaya said, as a church, they were looking forward to engaging with President Mugabe over the issue.
We want this issue to be escalated to the Head of State and we are actually ready to go and see him now as Church leadership, he said.
Bishop Magaya said before meeting Mugabe they were going to mobilise the church and “orient each other on consciousness, peace and justice matters because this still low within the church.
One of the reasons for our existence is that we must be able to mobilise and build critical masses within the church to make sure that people become more conscious, not just preaching on Sunday services and quote John Vs 16, he said.
So we are actually going to be mobilising pastors, and training them so that they are going to be articulating these issues.