HARARE – MDC leader Nelson Chamisa called for seven days of prayer on Friday, at the end of which he said he would be taking “decisive and crucial next steps” to resolve Zimbabwe’s deepening economic and political crisis.

“We are faced with a terrible situation in our country and we must find a lasting solution. I know that you are suffering with no fuel, no power, no money, no passports, no jobs and no food. The cost of living has become unbearable. A lot of us cannot access medical facilities or medication,” Chamisa said in a pre-recorded video message.

“Children are dropping out of schools. Companies are shutting down. Our civil servants – our teachers, nurses, patriotic men and women in uniform – are struggling and have inadequate salaries. Our pensioners including our war veterans can hardly survive. Corruption has become a national anthem. In the rural areas just like the urban areas, life has become unbearable. Food is being abused as a partisan political weapon.”

Chamisa, a 41-year-old evangelist and lawyer, said he was calling on all Zimbabweans in and outside Zimbabwe to “embark on a seven day prayer, fasting and intercession for our beloved country before undertaking crucial and decisive next steps.”

The seven days, said Chamisa, will begin on Monday, July 29, and run through until August 4.

“I kindly ask you to take an hour between 1PM and 2PM every day to lift your hands and submit your hearts to the Lord beseeching him to grant us the power, wisdom, strength and providence to see us through,” Chamisa said.

Zimbabwe’s decade-old crisis has worsened after disputed elections in July last year, and the subsequent deployment of the military in August, and then again in January this year, which resulted in the deaths of over two dozen people.

Chamisa’s MDC has been threatening huge demonstrations to force President Emmerson Mnangagwa to the negotiating table. Chamisa told a rally last week the MDC wants a transitional authority to take over the running of the country, stressing that this would not be a government of national unity like the previous coalition that ruled between 2009 and 2013.

Chamisa wants a national caretaker government with clear targets to implement, including economic stabilisation and key electoral reforms that will guarantee a free and fair election in 2023.

Mnangagwa maintains that he won fairly, and his government’s security forces have reportedly been building up their arsenal preparing for a confrontation with the MDC.