Members of four families of the Johane Church of God (Bazezuru) in Francistown, will this morning appear before the customary courts to face charges of violating the Public Health Act.
The accused landed in trouble after refusing to have their children immunised against polio citing religious reasons. They were arrested last Monday according to Detective Superintendent Mosalagae Moseki of Kutlwano police. Tatitown police have also arrested and charged members of two other families for resisting immunisation. The Bazezuru claim that their church does not accept the use of modern medicine, as they strictly trust prayer. They insist that their children will never be affected by the poliovirus.
According to recently gazetted health regulations on polio prevention, anyone found guilty of resisting immunisation is liable to a fine not exceeding P500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.
A member of the Johane Church of God yesterday warned that the government's decision to impose the Polio Immunisation on their children was likely to spell doom for the country.
The church elder, Meshack Tsheriwa said, "As government continues to force our people to bend the rules of our religious beliefs, we are hopeful that God is watching them," he declared.
"The government of President Festus Mogae does not differ much from that of the ancient ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh", the 65 year-old Tsheriwa borrowed immensely from The Bible throughout the interview. He said that the church's decision to stand firm against the government-sponsored immunisation is a testimony that they depend entirely on the church for their survival.
"We do not mix the church and modern medicine and nothing has ever happened to us," said Tsheriwa. He preferred to leave everything to God.
"We will not tell God to punish the current leaders over their stance but God knows what action he will take against those who are forcing us despite our explanations". He hoped that God would communicate what will happen to those who force them into the exercise. He is confident that "definitely something was bound to happen as a way of punishment". It may not be today, but Tsheriwa warned that something was going to happen.
"God may bring wars to this relatively peaceful country or something catastrophic that will affect innocent people of this country," he said.
Members of the Johane Church of God had known in advance that at some stage they were going to clash with the authorities.
"A deceased prophet of our church warned us in 1994 that we were set on a collision course with the government some time this year, if we did not pray hard to avert it," he declared.
He said it was a pity that they were being pushed because of their religious beliefs.
Tsheriwa observed that in the early 1960's Botswana experienced drought, as it had not rained for a while. According to him, church leaders at the time were approached by the late Sir Seretse Khama to pray for rain.
"It was then that our oldest Evangelist, Tekere who was then based at Ramokgwebana village, was sent to Port Elizabeth to relay the message to the church elders to help Batswana. After this we experienced a lot of rain". He claims that during Sir Ketumile Masire's tenure as president, he tolerated them and their religion and culture.
"We are only experiencing these things today under Mogae. Interestingly enough it's not the first time there has been a national immunisation and we have never had any problems previously".
"People think we are being defiant and uncooperative. This is a wrong picture that is being created by the authorities. We are Batswana and law-abiding citizens," he remarked.
He gave a warning that one of the negative things likely to hit the country as a punishment by 'our God' is the disappearance of rain leaving the country dry. He insisted that the authorities were actually fighting with their God. He reiterated that members of their church were not going to simply bend to the demands of the government and accept modern medicine.
"Some of our children were forced into the immunization exercise and we do not take this lightly. People take us lightly when we say that our children will never be affected by polio," he said.
He condemned the arrest and subsequent charging of some of their people by the police for resisting the immunisation.