Rainbow Party general secretary Wynter Kabimba says the National Day of Prayer has done nothing but divide the country from the time it was pronounced.

In an interview, Kabimba said the National Day of Prayer, which falls on October 18, had poralised the country.

“We have never participated in the National Day of Prayer since it was introduced and our position is simple and clear, as far as we are concerned, the National Day of Prayer is not a unifying day from the day when it was pronounced. The National Day of Prayer has not been accepted by all the religious organisations that it was a necessary step for government to take or the necessary policy pronouncement to make and because of that it has divided the nation, it has polarised the nation because there are some people even amongst the clergy, there are some Church organisations that do not attend the National Day of Prayer and we know that very well,” Kabimba said.

“And one of the biggest organisations is the Catholic Church and there are other Church organisations that do not agree that we need a National Day of Prayer and because they don’t agree, so they have not participated in the National Day of Prayer. Just like there are many organisations amongst religious organisations that do not agree with the policy of establishing the Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Guidance.”

He however said members of this party were free to attend the prayers in their individual capacities because it was their right as Christians.

“So for us as Rainbow Party, as long as the National Day of Prayer is not accepted by everybody, for as long it poralises and divide the country, we do not think that our participation is necessary. We want to participate in an event that unifies the country not an event that deepens division in our country. But we have told our members that they can attend in their individual capacity but not representing the party because we realise that our members belong to different denominations so the party position is different from individual members of the party. As individual members, those who think that they can go and attend, they are at liberty to go and attend and those that think that they should attend they should also exercise their freedom of not attending,” said Kabimba.