Harare Zimbabwe Temple
The Harare Zimbabwe Temple will be the seventh temple built in Africa and the first built in Zimbabwe.
On 3 April 2016, at the Sunday morning session of the 186th annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Thomas S. Monson announced the construction of the first temple in Zimbabwe in the capital city of Harare.
In Zimbabwe, there are 26,000 members of the Church organized into six stakes and two districts. Three of those six stakes are headquartered in Harare. Prior to the temple announcement, Zimbabwe was the country with the second highest number of Church members without a temple. Nicaragua has the highest. Members desiring to participate in temple worship currently drive 13 hours to reach the Johannesburg South Africa Temple. Other nearby African nations will also benefit from the temple, including Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Harare Zimbabwe Temple will be constructed next to the stake center for the Harare Zimbabwe Stake at 65 Enterprise Road in the Highlands neighborhood of Harare. President Russell M. Nelson toured the site while visiting Harare on 17 April 2018, as part of his world ministry tour.
On 1 October 2020, an official exterior rendering of the Harare Zimbabwe Temple was released to the public, featuring a 17,250-square-foot temple with a spire rising over the main entrance. Church facilities will stand on either side of the temple. The temple will be built on a 6.7-acre site.
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Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for the Harare Zimbabwe Temple
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Harare Zimbabwe Temple was held on Saturday, 12 December 2020. Elder Edward Dube, a native of Zimbabwe and first counselor in the Africa South Area presidency, presided at the ceremony. His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa, president of the Republic of Zimbabwe, was also in attendance. President Mnangagwa praised the Church in his remarks. he said, "The contribution of the Church to national development and social well being of the citizenry cannot be overemphasized."
In his site dedicatory prayer, Elder Dube said, "As we watch the rising of this building from the ground up, may we also turn our hearts upward to Thee and Thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ."
