By Staff Writer
HARARE – The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is under fire over allegations that businessman Kuda Tagwirei was improperly granted access to the pulpit to advance political interests, in breach of church doctrine and policy.
Harare lawyer Thabani Mpofu has accused senior SDA officials of facilitating the use of the church platform for partisan purposes, singling out two ministers—Messrs Musara and Timuri—for allowing Tagwirei to speak from the pulpit without the required written recommendation.
“The conduct against which our client complains is a complete negation of the values of the church,” reads the statement. “The two have made common cause with conduct which promulgates divisive politics on the pulpit and ultimately subtracts from them as workers of the gospel.”
The complaint highlights violations of several SDA protocols and manuals, including the Use of the Pulpit guideline, which prohibits granting the pulpit to anyone without written clearance from church authorities. Despite this, Tagwirei was invited to speak, reportedly using the opportunity to promote personal political views.
Citing Biblical Perspectives (HA 15 05), the complaint notes that while Christianity may inspire social and political change, the church “does not seek political involvement or economic advantage through its ministry and mission.”
Further ethical breaches are alleged under the church’s Professional Ethics guidelines, which bar gospel workers from using their office “for partisan ends, personal gain, or selfish propaganda of any kind.”
According to the document, Musara and Timuri’s actions amounted to lending “their moral authority to Tagwirei, who was prepared to abuse the name of the church and its processes for personal political gain.”
In terms of the Church Manual, which explicitly states that “the Church confers no right to any pastor, elder, or other person to make the pulpit a forum for advocating disputed points,” the incident is described as a “wholesale negation” of the pulpit’s spiritual purpose.
The violation is described as “yawning, unmitigated and critically… never provoked,” adding that it “should find no brooding place in the processes of a holy church.”
Mpofu’s complaint also invokes the constitutions of the Zimbabwe East Union Conference (ZEUC) and Zimbabwe Central Conference (ZEC), which require strict compliance with Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (
The statement concludes: “The only kingdom that has the durability suggested by Sanyatwe is that of Christ and as it turns out, it is only for that kingdom that the SDA pulpit is consecrated.”
The SDA Church has yet to issue an official response to the allegations.
