* The primary purpose of these prayers is to seek God’s grace and blessing for a free, fair, peaceful, and transparent electoral process
* Let us also earnestly pray for God’s guidance in the election of leaders who are ‘after His own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:13; Acts 13:22)
By Duncan Mlanjira
As part of its prophetic responsibility, Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP)-Blantyre Synod informs congregants that the Synod has designated July 10, 2025 as Special Day of Prayer at the Multi Purpose Hall of St. Michael’s & All Angels Church at HHI in Blantyre ahead of the September 16 General Elections.
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A statement from Blantyre Synod’s Deputy General Secretary, Rev. Baxton Maulidi issued today, says September 16 is “a significant time when we, the citizens will exercise our constitutional right to elect leaders at various levels of Councillors in Wards; Members of Parliament in Constituencies, and the President as Head of State”.
“In light of this important national event, the CCAP-Blantyre Synod is calling upon all its members to set aside special time for prayer for our nation during this period,” says Maulidi in his statement.
He added that the primary purpose of these prayers “is to seek Gods grace and blessing for a free, fair, peaceful, and transparent electoral process; let us also earnestly pray for God’s guidance in the election of leaders who are ‘after His own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:13; Acts 13:22).”
Rev. Maulidi
He adds that the prayers at Multi Purpose Hall from 08h00-15h00, will be led by the Synod Moderator, Rev. Dr. Humphreys Zgambo and the Synod’s vice-moderator, Rev. Annie Kapinda — with support from the Department of Missions, Training and Evangelism as well as all Presbytery moderators.
“We further urge all our members to remain peaceful, hopeful, and to trust in the sovereign goodness of Gods during and beyond this electoral season.
“We are calling all to patronise this very important occasion. May the good Lord bless Malawi and His people,” says Rev. Maulidi in the statement.
Last month, the CCAP-Blantyre Synod’s Church & Society hosted a conference for the CCAP Clergy 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’.
And as part of its ‘Holistic Evangelisation’ tradition — which is the bedrock of the Synod’s mission as imbedded in its constitution — the CCAP ministers were implored to shape congregants’ minds to vote for individuals with sound development policies without being biased.
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It was organised on the background that the CCAP Blantyre Synod — through Church & Society programme — has been accredited by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to do civic and voter education from the pulpit ahead of the September 16 elections.
After presentations that culminated into heartful panel discussions, in which the top agenda debate was whether the clergy should be involved in politics — or whether to endorse a particular candidate for the faithfuls to vote for — The Very Rev. Prof. Silas Ncozana reminded the ministers of their role as guided by what Blantyre Synod said to itself on October 14, 1992 during the fight for multiparty dispensation.
Ncozana, who is one of the founders of the quasi-religious body, Public Affairs Committee (PAC) observed that ahead of September 16 “a lot of [political] bickering has already started — thus he quoted the 1992 document, that said: ‘It has been confirmed by the Synod that we are covenanted community with our Creator God and, therefore, also with each other as children of God, in the light of this covenan, we have a responsibility to promote the equality of all human beings in relation to each other’.
‘We as a Church have a responsibility to the people of this country to remain neutral in terms of party politics. In this way, we can be unbiased in our criticism of any injustices and oppression we see from any political party.
‘On this point, our Ministers of religion are expected to be publicly neutral — no matter what their personal convictions’, said the 1992 document.
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When opening the conference, Blantyre Synod’s General Secretary, Rev Anderson 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’.
“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,” he had said.
