Editor,

RE: "Nyaruguru: 16 lightning victims laid to rest” (The New Times, March 12).

This is a tragic but apt rejoinder to those who have been complaining about the authorities’ closure of places of worship that do not meet the minimum safety, security and health requirements imposed on places where large numbers of the public are expected to congregate.

In lightning-prone areas, failure to install lightning rods on buildings in which you intend to bring large numbers of the faithful—perhaps in the superstitious belief forces of nature will tremble in fear before the divine—is criminal negligence, and the authorities who allow it are themselves complicit in the consequences.

Mwene Kalinda