The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian and a group of pastors say they will not obey the Coronavirus prevention rules restricting religious gatherings to 10 people.
The CCAP General Assembly comprising Livingstonia, Nkhoma, Blantyre, Lusaka (Zambia) and Harare (Zimbabwe) synods have agreed to disobey the restriction.
Moderator for the Assembly, Reverend Dr Timothy Nyasulu, said the churches will continue to conduct church services where attendees will not exceed 100.
On its part, the group of pastors called Pastors Taskforce on Covid-19 said the restriction on number of people in churches is the same as closing churches.
“Let the government hear this. It’s either you listen to our pleas to gather in large crowds like we do or we will defy the orders and fill the Churches this Sunday,” said the group’s chairman Bishop Maurice Katema during a press conference held at Soul Winners Church in Lilongwe today.
The restrictions which government introduced last week are aimed at preventing the spread of Coronavirus in the country. According to the rules, any person who cause people to gather will be fined K100,000.
Malawi has recorded 4,714 cases including 152 deaths and 2,477 recoveries.
