Program Director

All Mayors present

All traditional leaders present

Council of Freedom Park and the CEO

All the Bishops, from UAAC and other churches

National Executive Committee and all church departmental structures

All the guests in general

Members of the media in our midst

Ladies and gentleman

Peace unto all.

Program Director, I stand before multitudes as the church celebrates 110 years after establishment by my Great-Grandfather, Bishop Matsea Paulos Mureri. Since formation, the church had been strengthened by a bond of unity, respect, and love. Generation after generation came and all stressed the importance of unity and love for one another. I wish to request all of us to ensure that another 110 and more years could come by adhering to our forebears’ teachings; love and unity.

This is our first convention since our Father, Archbishop Dr EMM Mureri, left us in December 2018. After his untimely passing, we entered into a mourning period and decided not to host the 2019 conference in honor of his spirit. When we felt that the timing was right for a general conference, Covid-19 was at its peak, both in 2020 and 2021 and the national state of disaster prohibited large gatherings. This in essence implied that for 3 years, we could not convene for reasons beyond our control. Maunited, it was not man-made nor deliberately imposed by anyone on us.

All these happened because it was not yet God ‘s time. Now, God ‘s time has finally arrived and we are seamlessly conducting our General Conference.

It is my maiden General Conference as a leader since I took the baton from my Father on 19 January 2020. I wish to assure you that there will not be a repeat or a situation when we will not conduct our conference here in our Headquarters, unless under circumstances beyond our control as mentioned above. This is a Holy Palace; everyone is welcome at all times to worship here.

I also wish to say this to all UAAC members from the bottom root of my heart. As the Mureri family, we saw you since the passing of our Father in December 2018. We saw you as you shared in our pain and sorrow. You were there during our family and church ‘s darkest hour. Wholeheartedly, you shared in our grief and mourning. In all the regions and countries where we have a presence as a church such as Zimbabwe and Botswana, we saw you in deep sorrow. It was indeed conspicuous that we all equally lost a lovely leader. Due to all the support, we remain standing even today. Let’s continue in this trajectory.

However, as we were mourning the loss of our Father, an unsavory, devil-inspired situation which threatened to divide the church ensued. I am glad that we remained strong and are still together as a church. Even in Zimbabwe and Botswana, the church is still intact.

As a leader, I implore all of us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the horizon. Life is not in the past, but in the future. The past helps in reminding us about living righteously. We should also realize that perhaps what happened was God ‘s way of reinforcing our strength to remain in unity and togetherness. Ours should always be to strive for peace at all times and cuddle each other in love.

I also wish to express my heart-felt gratitude to our Attorney, Mr Netshipale, for all he did for our church. Let’s intercede for him so that whatever he touches turns to gold and blessings befall him in abundance.

Program director, let me recognize the presence of local government in our midst. We are overjoyed that our Mayors heeded our invite and responded positively by attending this convention. Their presence strengthens us. We also appreciate their words of support and pledges. It is not common to see three Mayors under one roof outside the realm of their work. Actually this is a repeat of what we witnessed during the National Women Conference at Ha-Mavhunga Sports Grounds on 03 April 2022.

We implore all the municipalities to provide service to our communities, As a church, we shall pray for them so that they will be able to govern in an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

I am so delighted to see the Freedom Park Council and its CEO amongst us. Ms Mufamadi and your employers, we wholeheartedly thank you for your presence. We last saw each other on 31 October 2021 when we were conducting a national day of prayer for the 2021 Local Government Elections. We pledged that through our prayers, God will hear our pleas and deliver peaceful elections. Indeed the elections turned out peaceful.

As an institution mandated with preserving records and archival account of our liberation struggle and hard-earned freedom, we remain humbled by the great work you are doing. We promise you that we shall return to your magnificent institution for another visit when God so wishes. We really appreciate your presence here today.

As a church which respects traditional leadership and all that relates to our culture and custom, we appreciate the presence of traditional leaders amongst us. We are your subjects and servants too. Our duty is to pray for you so that you may lead us peacefully.

Even here in our church, we have many traditional leaders who are full-time and active members. I promise all others who are not yet members that we also have a special uniform for our traditional leaders. Musanda Vho-Tshikombedze, please rise so that others may see how we dress traditional leaders in this church. Let’s continue working together as a church and traditional leadership institution to better our communities.

I also wish to thank my fellow Bishops and leaders from other churches in our midst. Archbishop Dr NP Netshia from Holy Christian Apostolic Church, Bishop Ramangwala from Zion African Acts Church, Mrs Tshindane from the Israel Apostolic Church in Zion and members of the Apostolic Church in Zion. Let’s work together as churches at all times. The world needs us as churches to realize peace and harmony.

I further wish to appreciate the presence of a delegation from the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) in our midst. Your cooperation and love whenever we visit Zimbabwe is incomparable. May the Almighty keep our bond intact.

To all my Bishops in Zimbabwe and leaders in Botswana, as well as all the members, please keep up the faith and goods deeds.

As a church, we are perturbed by an evil spirit that has engulfed our region involving the theft and disappearance of little children. We share in the grief of families that have been negatively affected by this scourge. We call upon the Police to track down and arrest perpetrators of this heinous crime, to ensure deterrence. We shall continue praying for our government to restore a state of stability and harmony.

As a church leader, I request all of us to pray for world peace. We can all see the consequences of the Russian-Ukraine war. Though fuel prices have slightly dropped, this war has brought us lots of hardship. Prices of basic commodities have skyrocketed and are becoming unaffordable. This should prompt us to pray in earnest for world peace. As Christians, if we pray together with full confidence in God, he will hear us and heal our land.

I also implore all Christians to pray for our country, South Africa. Let there be peace even in parliament. May God intervene and help our leaders govern us well without unnecessary schism and instability.

Electricity supply in our country is in crisis. Load-shedding is destroying our economy as a country. In a short while, students will be starting with final exams. How will they study in darkness? We urge Eskom and government to ensure sustainable and stable electricity supply to ensure economic growth and employment creation. Though the economy is expected to grow by 2%, such will be difficult to achieve due to this unreliable electricity supply.

To all the youth I say, please prioritize your studies. Education guarantees the attainment of most of what your heart desires. The year is almost over, please study hard. I wish all of you to be highly educated.

In August 2022, I attended a graduation ceremony of 18 members of our church branch at the University of Venda (UNIVEN). I also wish to remind all that our branches at various educational institutions are also yielding good results. For instance, since the beginning of 2022, in addition to the UNIVEN numbers, 3 graduates were recorded at our Vaal University of Technology branch, 3 at our University of Johannesburg branch and 1 at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, commonly known as Medunsa. In vernacular I say, “ndi di hudza nga vhoiwe vhathannga na vhasidzana vhanga”.

UAAC members, I am scheduled to visit Botswana in due course. I already visited Zimbabwe three times this year (Beitbridge, Binga and Gaha). Please, get your passports ready so that you can accompany me to Botswana. Even here within the South African borders, there are still many places that I should visit. God will enable us to reach out to all our members.

Let’s meet here in our Holy Palace during a Provincial Youth Conference scheduled for second week of December 2022, which marks our first gathering in our new year calendar.

To all members, I reiterate what I said before that we should strive for unity at all times. We can all see how successful this conference is. It is all due to the spirit of togetherness. Let’s work together, you and I in unity. When we work in tandem, our church will always succeed. We should never forsake the principles of Love, forgiveness and unity that were taught by the pioneers of this church and its doctrine.

The gates of “Jerusalem” are set for opening, travel safely Maunited, until we meet again in September 2023 if God so wishes.

Let’s all rise for prayer. However, please remain seated after prayer for program directors to conclude their program.

Ntwanano Ma-United

Lumuno

Rugare