Church has played crucial role in elections

We are nine days before the May 20 tripartite elections and faith leaders are leaving no stone unturned to ensure their members are well informed of election and the processes voters will need to follow in exercising their right. I asked Gift Nyimbiri—a church elder at Jenda Full Gospel International Church in Mzimba—on the role the church has played in educating members on the need to participate in these elections.

First, can you tell me when you established this church here at Jenda Rural Growth Centre?

I cannot remember quite well the day we came, but it is now two years since we established the church here.

How big is your membership?

It is not all that big, but we are growing steadily. We are very encouraged to see new people joining us from other churches.

But that equals to catching a fish that is already dead.

Weren’t you supposed to celebrate the conversion of non-believers and not when Christians leave their churches for you? Isn’t that promoting spiritual promiscuity?

I don’t think so. I believe that those joining us are doing so because they have been satisfied with our teachings. So, it would be wrong to say those leaving their churches are being spiritually promiscuous. They are simply exercising their spiritual right to belong to a church, which satisfies their hunger for truth.

Now, in nine days we will be choosing councilors, new Members of Parliament (MPs) and president? As a church, what role have you played in educating your members on the tripartite elections?

The church recognises the importance of these elections. As a church, we have taken advantage of every forum, including the pulpit, to sensitise our members on the need to actively participate in all the electoral processes. I should mention, however, that this would not have been possible if the National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust did not provide us with the skills needed in the provision of civic and voter education. Together with his team, the Northern Region Nice regional civic education officer, Enoch Chinkhuntha, equipped us with the skills to provide non-partisan civic and voter education to not only our members, but other voters as well.

Today, we can say confidently that churches have conducted successful civic and voter education to their members.

Didn’t you find it hard to integrate electoral messages into homilies?

Not at all. For your information, the choice of leaders has not started today. If you are a Christian, you might have read in the Bible about Israelites asking God to guide them in their choice of leaders. Our human eyes can be deceiving just as they deceived Jesse who demeaned David when Prophet Samuel told him to bring a son to be anointed as heir to his throne. Jesse never thought God could choose David who was the youngest amongst his seven sons. As faith leaders, we know that there are people who think they deserve to form the next government because of who or what they are or where they are coming from.

But in reference to the Bible, we always encouraged our members to critically analyse manifestos of the contestants to ensure they make an informed decision on the polling day. People should not look at someone’s face before making a decision on who to vote for, but the ideas they are standing for.

In the previous elections, Malawi registered quite a huge number of null and void votes because people were not properly oriented on the voting processes. Did you also take note of that aspect in your church-based civic and voter education?

Of course, yes! Again, I would like to thank Nice Trust for providing us with IEC [information, education and communication] materials, which provide a demonstration of the voting process. These materials helped us quite a lot in explaining how the voting process will be conducted. It is our expectation, therefore, that there will be reduced or no cases of null and void votes at Jenda Rural Growth Centre.