Chamburuka, A Theological reflection on Romans 13:1-7 in ...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-