Mnangagwa hands AFM 50 hectares for university

The government has allocated an additional 50 hectares of land to the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) to build its first university.

The land, which is adjacent to the Rufaro Conference Centre in Chatsworth, Gutu, was handed over on Saturday afternoon.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa was represented at the event by ZANU PF national chairperson and Defence Minister, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, who presented the offer letter to AFM in Zimbabwe president, Amon Dubie Madawo.

Muchinguri-Kashiri also commissioned a clinic built by the AFM Young People’s Union with financial support from ZANU PF Central Committee member Kudakwashe Tagwirei.

The clinic is located at Rufaro High School. It is expected to serve at least 6,000 residents in the Chatsworth area, cutting the distance people have to walk to access healthcare to the recommended five kilometres.

Muchinguri-Kashiri said the church has a critical role to play in national development and in achieving Vision 2030, commending the AFM for its contribution to health and education.

Madawo thanked the Government for creating an enabling environment for churches to take part in nation building.

“Your Government has created a conducive environment for churches to operate in Zimbabwe and partner with it in building the nation,” said Madawo.

“AFM in Zimbabwe occupies a significant position within the religious landscape and continues to play an influential role in shaping moral values, family stability, youth development and community transformation.

“Through our extensive national presence, the church serves an important role in mobilising communities towards productive citizenship, social responsibility, peacebuilding and national development.”

AFM currently runs 24 schools across seven provinces and plans to have schools in every province.

The church also operates clinics, vocational training centres, various community development programmes and the Manhinga Children’s Home in Manicaland.

Madawo appealed for support for several projects, including a state-of-the-art Science laboratory, fisheries and agricultural projects at Rufaro High School.

He also called for equipment, instructors and scholarships for the church’s vocational training centres.

Madawo said the AFM’s first university will be built on the 50 hectares, and also requested additional commercial boreholes for the Rufaro Conference Centre and the tarring of the road from the Gutu turn-off.

Apart from the latest 50 hectares for the AFM university, Mnangagwa has made other donations to the AFM and Madawo.

The main one was for the AFM Vineyard Assembly in Norton. The state-of-the-art double-storey, 1,000-seater church was built with financial support from Mnangagwa. He donated US$300,400 in cash to help complete the building.

At its official opening, Mnangagwa handed over a brand new 30-seater bus to the assembly and vehicles for the church’s outreach programmes.

In June this year, the President also gave Madawo a personal gift of a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series ZX.

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The Two AFMs: How Zimbabwe’s Oldest Pentecostal Church Split And Why One Side Now Enjoys ZANU-PF Patronage AFM Church non-partisan, non-political – Madawo