Churches Plead for Dialogue as Protests Loom

The Zimbabwe Council of Churches urgently appealed for dialogue between the government and protest organizers as mass marches loom, the Daily News reported. The clergy warned that failure to engage could trigger violent confrontations reminiscent of past crackdowns. The call follows escalating political tensions and a pattern of security forces using lethal force against demonstrators. The ZCC’s intervention seeks to bridge a widening trust deficit between citizens and the state, but previous mediation efforts have yielded little, and hardliners on both sides dismiss dialogue. With the state’s monopoly on force and the opposition’s street mobilization on a collision course, the church’s moral authority is being tested as the last firewall against chaos and a potential crackdown.