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the church for a little legitimacy as will be analysed below.   
Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian political philosopher, wrote that when it comes to exercising one’s authority the ruler needs to adhere to the basic principle that the ends should always justify the means; with the ends always being a retention of power, and means being whatever will bring about that desired end. Religion can therefore be used as a means to bring about the end which in our case is the acquisition of political power. Machiavelli therefore refers to religion as a tool of the ruler, to be used as a method by which he can convince the masses of his warm-heartedness. This is what some scholars have referred to as “Caesaropapism.” By being seen in the company of a respected religious personality the opposition leadership wants the masses to see them as a God fearing party which deserves their sympathy and support.
Machiavelli makes it clear that the sincerity of the ruler’s piety is of no importance: everyone knows how praiseworthy it is in a Prince to keep faith, and to live uprightly and not craftily. The prince should take care to be seen as ideally faithful by his subjects, but his actions need not be limited by any pious restraints. In other words, if left to choose between preserving one’s crown and staying true to one’s religious principle, the competent ruler will always choose the former over the latter. The ugly truth is that the MDC leadership is more interested in acquiring power through of course the manipulation of a respected religious figure. The church if manipulated well can be a very powerful tool to help a political party to outwit its opponents in an election. Politicians will always come up with various strategies to maximise their support base.
The MDC’s “kind-hearted and God fearing” strategy is a very clever and shrewd way of gaining support from the church-goers in order to maintain their power base.
Power entails the ability both to demand that people do something, and to say how a thing should be done or organised. Authority is where power is granted by consent and when an individual is said to have authority the reason that justifies this authority is known as legitimacy. Legitimacy is now lacking in most opposition structures. The masses that trusted this neo-liberal party now see through its thread bare lies as it has failed to deliver on its myriad promises.
Feelings of popular legitimacy are a strong foundation for any successful political party. When people believe that they ought to obey the party leadership, legitimacy is high. If they see no reason to obey or if only they comply from fear, legitimacy is low. Because it is much easier for any political party to function when its supporters believe in its legitimacy, virtually all politicians, even the most corrupt and inefficient political parties, try to encourage their supporters to believe that they should obey the party’s policies. A political party with high legitimacy is typically more effective in carrying out policies and is more likely to overcome any challenges.
Political party supporters respect their leaders as well as obey party protocols and procedures if the political leadership meets its obligations and adheres to party principles. This creates trust between those who govern and the governed thus legitimising the political elites’ hold on power. As long as any political party meets its obligations, the public as well as its supporters are supposed to be supportive and act appropriately. If legitimacy is violated — the line of succession is broken, the party’s laws are subverted, the party’s political manifesto is ignored and the political leadership may expect resistance and at times rebellion from party members. Legitimacy is lacking where the public and political activists lose confidence in leaders who fail to fulfil part of their political bargain.
The invitation of TB Joshua by the opposition party is a well-calculated move to restore their legitimacy, which is fading as each day passes. The opposition leadership believes that by being seen in the company of the much-admired prophet they stand a chance of regaining people’s trust and confidence. They are seeking righteousness from ‘the man of God’. This new angelic look is needed to white wash, obliterate, erase and rub their demonic, unclean and ungodly record of supporting homosexuality, the many sex scandals in their party, corruption, the calling of sanctions against their own people and the list goes on.
The opposition leadership wants TB Joshua to save them from the impending election Armageddon. Jesus associated with sinners for he said that he did not come for the righteous but for those who were spiritually weak or lacking in spirit. The good thing about Jesus which is clearly written in the Holy Book is that he never pampered the sinners or showered them with false praises but he openly and honestly told them to change their wicked ways. Matthew the tax collector had to give back people their money, which he had corruptly and dishonestly acquired. We surely and honestly hope that the coming of TB Joshua is going to turn some of these hypocrites in to upright and God fearing citizens. We hope these political hypocrites will give back the houses, stands and market stalls they sinfully took from the poor and defenceless widows, widowers and vendors in most urban areas.
Opinions, feelings or sentiments might differ about what TB Joshua really stands for — whether he is real or a fake, a God sent Prophet or an anti-Christ being used by the devil. We must also remember that the Bible tells us that the devil can also masquerade as an angel of light. It is more cunning than man. After all, Satan was once God’s senior angel before he was banished from heaven. Jesus warned believers to watch out for false prophets who come to them in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. A true prophet according to Jesus is like a good tree, which bears good fruit. We must not forget that when Jesus drove out a demon that was mute, he was also accused of being a Satanist. His reply was simply that: If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand?
It is a fact that TB Joshua actually has millions of admirers and followers the world over. In Zimbabwe, no matter one’s political party affiliation, the “Man of God” as he is affectionately known by many people actually has many disciples who truly believe in him. It is very important to note that acquisition of knowledge also relies on our emotions or impulses or reflexes. When the thing that we know has some religious or theological connotation, we have faith and believe in it. This method is called fideism. Knowledge gained by faith has a tendency to be more firmly embedded than knowledge arrived at through empiricism and rationalism. It is therefore very hard to convince people not to have faith in something they strongly believe in.
Fear created the gods and fear preserves them. Our fear of the afterlife, that unknown destiny of every living soul makes most of us cling tenaciously to our beliefs and to respect the prophets whom we think directly communicate with the heavenly Creator. TB Joshua’s mission is therefore for both the believers and non-believers. We hope that when he comes the believers will be better people and the non-believers will be good citizens.
Some politicians should be very careful of losing the whole plot, by reducing the coming of this man, if ever he is coming to Zimbabwe, to a mere MDC project thus giving these political charlatans who earnestly need some divine cleansing (and some thorough washing in gallons of salvation) unnecessary praise which they don’t deserve at all among the myriad Zimbabwean Christians. Remember, David did not call Samuel to anoint him but it was the Most High who sent Prophet Samuel to do so. We strongly believe that it cannot be vice-versa this time. 
Politics is not about being emotional or temperamental. It requires a high degree of prudence and pragmatism. You need to be as cunning as a fox as to outmanoeuvre your political opponent.  Let TB Joshua’s visit be seen by all those who believe in him (irrespective of their political party affiliation) as an opportune time to hear directly from their prophet. We are not to judge the Prophet, but it is time alone that will judge him.
It is up to him to be like evangelist Jim Jones of the well documented Guyana crisis — who caused the death of thousands of his followers through dubious prophecies of heaven and hell, or he can resemble defrocked Catholic Bishop Pious Ncube who prayed for the demise of the Zimbabwean Head of State — only for him to be caught on camera doing the unthinkable on his female parishioners, or he can be similar to Bishop Desmond Tutu who has openly accepted the condemned descendants of Sodom and Gomorrah with open hands, or he can remind us of the Roman Catholic Bishops who through their cut and paste neo-liberal Pastoral letters took sides with some political parties or he can be as outspoken as Roman Catholic Irish born Bishop Lamont who stood against the Rhodesian government’s draconian anti-African laws or he can bear a resemblance to Apostle Paul who dedicated his whole life to spreading the gospel of Christ to the gentiles.
It will be up to TB Joshua to give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. Is he to directly get involved in politics, or he is merely a messenger like the others who have been there before him to spread the good news of God’s Kingdom? It will be the path that he takes that will enable some of his many followers to see through him or tell what he really stands for. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul tells all Christian believers that: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we have preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
It is up to TB Joshua to embrace those, who like Biblical Naboth, have been brave enough to tell the white world just like what Naboth did to King Ahab after he requested for his vineyard that: the Lord forbids that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors or it’s also up to him to accept the path of those who support what God destroyed in Sodom and Gomorrah.
A true prophet should bear good fruit.