By Isabella Gyau Orhin
Leaders of the Catholic Church in Africa and Madagascar meeting in Accra after a five day conference had decried the state of affairs in Zimbabwe calling for a halt to hostilities in that country.
They also described the problem as “a crisis of moral leadership and bad governance” which is largely “self inflicted” and not as a result of natural disaster or only of adverse international conditions.
“Zimbabwe today is characterized by a political situation where freedom of expression and movement no longer exists,” said the Arch Bishop of Dares salaam His Eminence Cardinal Polycarp Pengo adding, “Members of civil society, political opponents and even ordinary citizens have become victims of violent acts meted out on them for no legitimate reason.”
Appealing to President Robert Mugabe and his government to reconsider their actions, the African Catholic leaders’ said, “We strongly appeal to the government of Zimbabwe in the name of Jesus, to immediately stop the violence.”
They also called on the Chairman of the African Union President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana, the Chairman of the Organ of Politics, Defense and Security of the Southern African Development Cooperation President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete as well as all leaders in that region to intervene in the spirit of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Peer Review Mechanism.
The Accra meeting was attended by members of the Standing Committee of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) from 26 to 30th March.
“We are saddened and concerned about the suffering of our sisters and brothers in Zimbabwe,” Cardinal Pengo said at the Press Conference.
He explained that a fact finding mission sent to Zimbabwe by SECAM reports that the situation there has reached a state where uncontrolled outbreak of violence, chaos and anarchy are more and more becoming a danger.
Cardinal Pengo also said the fact finding mission confirmed the observations which the Catholic Bishops Conference of Zimbabwe wrote in a pastoral letter.
According to Cardinal Pengo, the situation in Zimbabwe is a social one where basic needs are hardly met. Food he said has become unaffordable for the vast majority of the population while drugs and medical services are far beyond the reach of the ordinary citizen.
In addition to these, the Cardinal said the education system of the country is fast collapsing while the people have become disillusioned.
Almost four million people have gone into exile since the beginning of the hardships while Zimbabweans fleeing the country are becoming a burden to neighbouring countries.
The situation in Zimbabwe is also an economic one which makes the production and distribution of goods and services impossible. This has led to continuous deterioration of the public and common goods.
Cardinal Pengo asked African political leaders to insist that the rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights as enshrined in the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights to which Zimbabwe is a signatory be reinstated.
News reports indicate that on March 22, 2007 Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, asked his followers to take the streets in protest against the human-rights abuses of the country’s government, and use passive resistance to bring down the government.
The archbishop, a frequent critic of the government, told a news conference in Harare that he was prepared to risk his life in the effort to oust President Robert Mugabe.
“I am ready to stand in front,” Archbishop Ncube said. “We must be ready to stand, even in front of blazing guns.’
The archbishop has often called upon citizens to oppose the authoritarian tactics of the Mugabe regime and demand effective government leadership to ease the nation’s severe poverty. But he spoke with unprecedented urgency on March 22, after a series of incidents in which government supporters have arrested, beaten, and killed leading political opponents.
“The biggest problem in Zimbabwe is cowards, myself included,” the archbishop said. “We must get off our comfortable seats and suffer with the people.”
African Union Chairman John Kufuor said African leaders were embarrassed by the situation in Zimbabwe and perhaps could do more to help, but have met stiff resistance from Harare."The African Union is very uncomfortable. The situation in your country is very embarrassing," Ghana's president Kufuor said in response to a question from a Zimbabwean at the Chatham House think-tank during a state visit in London.
"I know personally that presidents like Olusegun Obasanjo, from Nigeria, Thabo Mbeki from South Africa and others have tried desperately to exercise some influence for the better. But they came against stiff resistance," said Kufuor. Kufuor was heckled during his speech at Chatham House on four separate occasions by Zimbabweans calling on African leaders to take a stand against Robert Mugabe.."I think we should all assume that all these institutions, the African Union, mean well. Perhaps we have not exhausted the means to give us a handle on the situation so we can help Zimbabwe return to normality," he said. Kufuor stressed that African leaders were serious about tackling the situation in Zimbabwe, but said individual presidents and nations were limited by what unilateral action they could take. "What can Mbeki as a man, alone, do against Zimbabwe?" said Kufuor."In our own various ways we are trying very hard to exercise some influence. I tell you, we are serious," he said. Kufuor was in Britain on a state visit to celebrate Ghana's 50 years of independence from its former colonial ruler.
The latest crackdown comes as Zimbabwe faces a deepening economic crisis with inflation at more than 1,700 percent, unemployment of 80 percent and shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange.Mugabe originally proposed adjusting election dates to extend his current term by two years to 2010, and then said that if necessary he would be willing to stand in elections in 2008 -- meaning he could remain in office through 2014.The Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost a 2002 presidential election to Mugabe, a poll widely believed to have been rigged by the government.
Events in Zimbabwe got to a head when on March 11, Tsvangirai and some of his leaders in the Movement for Democratic Change were arrested and brutalized by Police resulting in a suspected fractured skull and his hospitalisation in intensive care.
Some of them were not allowed to travel out of the country and Tsvangirai was again rearrested last week and is still in Police custody.
“The major motivation for the church’s involvement in the development of people has been the promotion of dignity of human person, made in he image of God,” said Cardinal Pengo.
“As a church we are aware of challenges ahead and will do all in our means to play our prophetic role .We shall continue to speak out for the voiceless and marginalized in society.”
Source Public Agenda Ghana
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