gospel

Zimbabwe Christian Alliance conducts community service delivery meetings – Chronicle

Zimbabwe Christian Alliance conducts community service delivery meetings

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]

THE Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) through its local peace committees is conducting dialogue meetings between community members and service providers across the country in order to address pressing service delivery issues that continue to haunt communities.

In an interview after a recent dialogue meeting in Gwanda, ZCA executive director, Reverend Useni Sibanda, said local peace committees were supposed to craft their 2024- 2026 plan.

He said they have conducted meetings in Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North and Midlands Provinces. Reverend Useni said the main challenge faced by communities across all provinces is the availability of water. ZCA has established 46 local peace committees in eight provinces across the country.

“As ZCA we have engaged in the process of facilitating dialogues between the community and service providers so that there can be concrete actions that can be taken to address outstanding issues of service delivery,” he said. “We were in Gwanda where we had a dialogue between residents and councillors. We also had pastors and church organizations. The challenges are peculiar to every district but the cross cutting issue has been the availability of water.

“Communities in both rural and urban areas have cited the challenge in accessing water. There is a need for construction of dams, drilling of boreholes among other strategies to improve water supply. Another issue is of sanitation and toilets. For example in Gwanda some areas rely on communal toilets, which are in a poor state,” he said.

Rev Useni said such issues should be resolved as they were causing conflicts within communities, adding that peace committees will facilitate dialogues to raise concerns in a civilized manner.

This will also provide an opportunity for service providers to be answerable to their clients. Reverend Sibanda said there were also conflicts related to climate change issues.

“Many parts of the country have been affected by drought, which has been induced by climate change. In most cases drought situations lead to conflicts.

“Our local peace committees will be instrumental in ensuring that food distribution exercises are conducted peacefully and fairly,” he said.

“Our strategy is to ensure that the peace committees are visible and significantly contribute towards promoting and ensuring peace. Because of the drought we will people scrambling for the little resources available leading to conflicts,” he said.

Gwanda Local Peace Committee chairperson, Mr Davis Mwera said other issues the committee would want to address under their new two year plan include issues of open defacation caused by open air worship and illegal settlements that are sprouting in the town.

He said there was also a problem of illegal mining activities that are causing damage to infrastructure and threatening humans and livestock. Mr Mwera said refuse collection and disposal of waste have also remained major concerns for residents.

“As we move to craft and roll out our two year plan we hope to record positive results. In the past we have recorded some progress from our interventions,” said Mr Mwera.

“We facilitated establishment of Spitzkop North police base, which has helped to reduce crime in the area. We have also managed to establish peace committees in some problematic areas as a mitigation strategy,” he said.

-@DubeMatutu

gospel

Mahachi pays tribute to late SA gospel icon – NewsDay

Tatenda Mahachi flanked by the late S’fiso Ncwane’s sons in Durban recently

Zimbabwean gospel musician Tatenda Mahachi was among a galaxy of gospel musicians who attended a private tribute function for the late South African gospel music icon S’fiso Ncwane that was held in Durban last Sunday.

Ncwane died of kidney failure in 2016 at the age of 37.

Mahachi and Ncwane collaborated on a 2015 hit single titled Ndinoda Jesu/Ngiyamuthanda uJesu, which marked the beginning of their connection.

The two went on to share the stage on a number of gospel concerts in South Africa, including the AfriGospel Unite Festival before Ncwane died in December 2016.

However, Ncwane’s death did not deter Mahachi from visiting Durban, which had turned out to be his second home, where he would perform at events such as the Kings Outreach Ministry International all-night crusade.

Last Sunday Mahachi joined Ncwane’s friends and family donned white at the Heroes Acre Cemetery in Durban to commemorate the late musician’s life on his birthday as they unveiled his tombstone.

A private gathering, interspersed by song and dance was later held at Westville Country Club, which was attended by musicians including Sipho Makhabane, Ayanda Tanzi, Thina Zungu, Pindie P, S’bu, Jumbo and Melusi Mbokazi, among others.

Invited guests were given an opportunity to sing Ncwane tribute songs or and give testimony about the late gospel icon.

“When I was introduced by the MC called Mthunzi I stood up and spoke about how I became friends with my brother S’fiso,” Mahachi told Standard Style.

“I shared about our collaborations and festivals that we attended until the time he died.

“I also took time to sing S’fiso’s hit song Halleluyah in remembrance of our friendship.”

Mahachi said it was an emotional moment when Ncwane’s widow Ayanda shared her aggrieved experience when she learnt about her husband’s death.

She said life has never been the same since the death of her husband eight years ago, Mahachi said.

Ayanda also handed over the golden microphone as family legacy to their eldest son Ngcweti, who is a talented hip-hop musician.

Ncwane is survived by Ayanda and two sons, Umawenzokuhle and Ngcweti.

Mahachi said he was working on a new album to be released this year.

gospel

American gospel artistes to grace Zim – NewsDay

AWARD-WINNING American contemporary musical group Maverick City Music and multi-award winner songwriter, singer and choir director Kirk Franklin will enhance the country’s gospel experience in a tour dubbed the Kingdom World Tour.

The Kingdom Tour set to start on August 12 at the Glamis Arena in Harare will see the gospel musicians touring Africa, Europe and Asia for unforgettable experiences and an encounter with God.

Founded in 2018 by Tony Brown along with Jonathan Jay in Atlanta, Maverick City made music that spoke and resonated with many people in the gospel circle releasing songs such as Promises, Jireh, Million Little Miracles, The Story I Will Tell, For My Good, Sufficient For Today and Man Of Your Word, among others.

The group was created to break down the unspoken rules in contemporary Christian music and the gospel world while giving a voice to those without a platform for their worship to be heard and shared.

Maverick City Music scooped awards in four categories it was nominated for at the prestigious Grammy Awards last year in the categories of Best Gospel Performance/Song, Best Gospel Album, Best Contemporary Christian Music Album and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song.

Meanwhile Kirk Franklin, a decorated gospel musician, who has won many awards including several Grammys and BET awards and fuses hip-hop rhythms with religious messages, will perform with Maverick City.

He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel and Christian R&B ensembles such as The Family, God’s Property and One Nation Crew, among several others.

His discography includes My Life Is In Your Hands, Wanna Be Happy, Love Theory, Hello Fear, But The Blood and Everyone Hurts, among others.

gospel

American gospel artistes to grace Zim – NewsDay

The Kingdom Tour set to start on August 12 at the Glamis Arena in Harare will see the gospel musicians touring Africa, Europe and Asia for unforgettable experiences and an encounter with God.

The group was created to break down the unspoken rules in contemporary Christian music and the gospel world while giving a voice to those without a platform for their worship to be heard and shared.

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He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel and Christian R&B ensembles such as The Family, God’s Property and One Nation Crew, among several others.

His discography includes My Life Is In Your Hands, Wanna Be Happy, Love Theory, Hello Fear, But The Blood and Everyone Hurts, among others.

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