BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
called priests beat up innocent people who happened to be at the wrong
place at the wrong time, we see some of our Mother’s Union members ar-
rested and taken to court because they stood up for their church. But the
message from Isaiah is a message of consolation for those who are tempted
to give up all hope for a better future. Isaiah comforts God’s people with the
words:
“But now says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O
Israel: Do not fear, for I have called you by name, you are mine.” (v.1) Let us
therefore take this opportunity of meeting here today from different parts of
our diocese to share our stories and to comfort and reassure one another
that God has called each one of us by name, that he is with us in the midst
of the difficulties we are experiencing in our church and in our nation. Let
us encourage each other to be witnesses to the one God who alone can re-
deem us and who is already ahead of us.’^39Women gospel artists also had to be creative and sang their songs to
communicate hope through music. They composed songs which ad-
dressed the socio-economic and political difficulties that were prevailing.
For them it was part of Christian virtue to stand firm, in patience for
God’s time. Shingisai Suluma, for example, composed a song Mirira
Mangwanani (Wait for the Morning) which became popular in early
- It encouraged Christians to persevere and wait on God. The song
is an inspiration from the biblical passage, ‘Weeping may tarry for the
night, but joy comes with the morning’ (Psalm 30:5).^40 In other words
therefore, Shingisai understands the problems that Zimbabwe faced to
be temporary as well as caused by God and not leadership or any other
human being.
The Bible and women with political ambitions in Zimbabwe
During the crises, some women with political ambitions also found the
Bible as a ready source for communicating their political ideology.
Knowing that presenting oneself as a God fearing or Bible-believing
individual is highly regarded in Zimbabwe, Tsitsi Dangarembga as soon
as she was appointed Secretary for Education in MDC faction led by Prof
Arthur Mutambara, presented herself as a woman who fears God and
who gets inspiration from the Bible for her political path. She, in an
(^39) The Times, ‘The events of Lady Day.’
(^40) Chitando, ‘In the beginning was the land’: The Appropriation of religious themes in
political discourses in Zimbabwe; Cf. Gadziro Gwekwerere, ‘Gospel Music as a Mirror
of the Political and Socio-Economic Developments in Zimbabwe, 1980-2007’, Ex-
change 38 (2009) 329-354.