Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa turns to God for peaceful SADC summit

Zimbabwe’s president Emmerson Mnangagwa. (Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

• Nearly 100 opposition and civil society activists were jailed ahead of the SADC summit in Harare.
• President EmmersonMnangagwa hosted a breakfast prayer meeting at the State House for blessings ahead of the summit.
• Zimbabwe will take up the annual rotational leadership of the regional bloc.

After jailing nearly 100 activists in the past two months, Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa held a national breakfast prayer meeting on Wednesday in which he asked for God’s guidance.

The prayer meeting drew senior ruling Zanu-PF members and government officials who met with selected clergy at the State House.

Last week, Information Minister Jenfan Muswere alleged some religious leaders were working with civil society groups to destabilise the government.

He said they were doing so conveniently ahead of the much-touted 44th ordinary SADC summit of heads of state and government slated for 17 and 18 August.

Mnangagwa asked for divine assistance for a peaceful summit, calling on “the church and nation at large to persistently pray that God grants us the grace to successfully host the event and lead with wisdom and humility in the weighty responsibility before our country”.

“Let us equally approach the SADC summit with enhanced patriotism and unity, recognising that this is a moment of honour for our beloved motherland, Zimbabwe,” he said in his address.

READ | Jailed tourists, snatched activists turning into PR nightmare for Zimbabwe ahead of SADC summit

Some sections of the opposition and civil society wanted to demonstrate on the sidelines of the summit to show delegates they were unhappy with Zimbabwe’s disputed elections of August last year.

As early as last month, the ruling party’s director of information, Farai Marapira, said: 

But Mnangagwa took something of a different tone at the prayer meeting, saying “hospitality to visitors, throughout the summit and beyond, should reflect Godly love, warmth, joy and kindness”.

This will be the fourth time Zimbabwe has hosted the summit.

The first was on 20 July 1981, followed by 25 August 1989 and most recently 17 August 2014.The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.