Rev. Father Tamani during his presentation
* Entreats CCAP ministers to guide congregants to choose a better devil among them and to go and vote in large numbers to avoid voter apathy
* The clergy have a role to play in the political arena as they are carrying out the will of God the Almighty here on earth because God commanded man to take care of His world
By Duncan Mlanjira
Vicar General for Blantyre Catholic Church Diocese, Rev. Father Boniface Tamani, has hinted that the known presidential candidates for the September 16, 2025 General Elections are just bad apples — but among them there might be one with genuine developmental manifesto whom people can trust to vote for.
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Rev. Father Boniface Tamani was invited to attend as a presenter and plenary discussion panelist at the conference that Church & Society of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Blantyre Synod organised yesterday at Grace Bandawe Conference Centre in Blantyre — under the theme; ‘Church and Politics: The role of faith leaders ahead of September 16, 2025 General Elections’.
He described the presidential candidates as being used shirts in a dirty laundry basket but without any alternative, one chooses a modestly dirty one — alluding that that’s the situation on the political arena ahead of the presidential election.
Rev. Father Boniface Tamani, who is former chairperson of quasi-religious body, Public Affairs Committee (PAC), emphasised that the clergy have a role to play in the political arena as they are carrying out “the will of God the Almighty here on earth because God commanded man to take care of His world”.
He quoted various Bible stories that tell of religious but political leaders such as Abraham, Moses, Samuel; whom God sent to lead His people — thus giving faith leaders the responsibility to be part of politics to shape people’s minds in matters to do with their well-being.
“Jesus Christ was killed for two reasons, religious and political; many faith leaders in the Bible were persecuted because of the same reasons; religious and political. So we must play our role in guiding God’s people to make right choices because God called upon us to lead people spiritually and conscientiously.”
Tamani was echoing opening statement by Blantyre Synod’s General Secretary, Rev Anderson Juma, who said the conference was organised on a background of the fact that the CCAP Blantyre Synod — through Church & Society programme — has been accredited by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to do civic and voter education for the forthcoming September 16, 2025 General Elections.
Rev. Juma delivering the opening statement listed to by The Very Rev. Prof. Silas Ncozana
Rev. Juma observed that “there are still some sectors of society who believe that the church should not be involved in politics and any other social issues” and thus the Synod felt it “incumbent to remind its church ministers about the ‘Holistic Evangelisation’ tradition which is a bedrock of the Synod’s mission as imbedded in the constitution”.
“In this tradition, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is preached to meet not only the spiritual but the physical needs of a human being as well — politics being one of that aspects,” said Rev. Juma. “This gathering has been organised against a background of increased cases of misinformation and fake news spread through social media platforms taking centre stage in shaping people’s narratives on daily basis.
“It is, therefore, incumbent upon the Synod to always seek correct and unbiased information on electoral issues ahead of the September 16 General Elections.”
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He highlighted that gathered for the conference were presbytery clerks, Church & Society coordinators from all 20 prebyteries of the Synod including heads of departments — who are “strategic officers who implement the Synod’s policies and programmes throughout the Synod’s catchment area of the entire Southern Region”.
“It is, therefore, our belief and hope that ideas that will be shared will reach not only the members of the CCAP family, but every person in this catchment area. As faith leader, we are privileged in society because of the different platforms that we use to reach out to the masses.
“We have the pulpit which we use every Sunday; we have funeral occasions where we meet people of different backgrounds; we have evangelism rallies and different committees and gilds — in all these platforms we meet people and share information.”
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Rev. Juma stressed that it was deemed important to “share correct and unbiased information about the forthcoming general elections” while reminding ministers of the Synod’s constitutional provision “which mandates all church ministers to be ‘apolitical’ — not aligning ourselves with any political grouping or party”.
“The presenters chosen because of their academic qualifications, skills and experience in ‘Church and Politics’ issues as well as elections management. Go out energised to preach, speak and teach about the importance of Christians taking part in the September 16 general elections.”
Gracing the conference was The Very Rev. Prof. Silas Ncozana, who is Blantyre Synod’s Emeritus general secretary and its advisor on international affairs and attested that religious leaders should be involved in politics.
He added that it is a prophetic role given by God himself — a role that was played by the Catholic Church Bishops in the 1992 Pastoral Letter — the famous Malawi political landscape groundbreaking process towards multiparty dispensation that culminated into the formation of PAC, the quasi-religious body of which he is a founding member.
