Concern over the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe: A Message from the Heads of Christian Denominations in Zimbabwe
As the shepherds of the people, we, Church leaders of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’
Conference (ZCBC) and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), express our deep concern over the deteriorating political, security, economic and human rights situation in Zimbabwe following the March 29, 2008 national elections.
Before the elections, we issued statements urging Zimbabweans to conduct themselves peacefully and with tolerance towards those who held different views and political affiliation from one’s own. After the elections, we issued statements commending Zimbabweans for the generally peaceful and politically mature manner in which they conducted themselves before, during and soon after the elections.
Reports that are coming through to us from our Churches and members throughout the country indicate that the peaceful environment has, regrettably, changed:
Given the political uncertainty, anxiety and frustration created by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC’s) failure to release the results of the presidential poll 4 weeks after polling day:
Organized violence perpetrated against individuals, families and communities who are accused of campaigning or voting for the “wrong”
political party in the March 29, 2008 elections has been unleashed throughout the country, particularly in the countryside and in some high density urban areas. People are being abducted, tortured, humiliated by being asked to repeat slogans of the political party they are alleged not to support, ordered to attend mass meetings where they are told they voted for the “wrong” candidate and should never repeat it in the run-off election for President, and, in some cases, people are murdered.
The deterioration in the humanitarian situation is plummeting at a frightful pace. The cost of living has gone beyond the reach of the majority of our people. There is widespread famine in most parts of the countryside on account of poor harvests and delays in the process of importing maize from neighbouring countries. The shops are empty and basic foodstuffs are unavailable. Victims of organized torture who are ferried to hospital find little solace as the hospitals have no drugs or medicines to treat them.
As the shepherds of the people, we appeal:
1. To the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the
African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) to work towards arresting the deteriorating political and security situation in Zimbabwe. We warn the world that if nothing is done to help the people of Zimbabwe from their predicament, we shall soon be witnessing genocide similar to that experienced in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and other hot spots in Africa and elsewhere.
2. For the immediate end to political intimidation and retribution
arising from how people are perceived to have voted in the March 29,
2008 elections and arising from the desire to influence how people will vote in the anticipated run-off in the presidential poll. Youth militia and war veteran/military base camps that have been set up in different parts of the country should be closed as a step towards restoring the peace and freedom of people’s movement that was witnessed before and during the March 29, 2008 elections.
3. To ZEC to release the true results of the presidential poll of
March 29, 2008 without further delay. The unprecedented delay in the publication of these results has caused anxiety, frustration, depression, suspicion and in some cases illness among people of Zimbabwe both at home and abroad. A pall of despondency hangs over the nation which finds itself in a crisis of expectations and governance. The nation is in a crisis, in limbo and no real business is taking place anywhere as the nation waits.
4. To, finally, the people of Zimbabwe themselves. You played your
part when you turned out to vote on 29 March 2008. We, again, commend you for exercising your democratic right peacefully. At this difficult time in our nation, we urge you to maintain and protect your dignity and your vote. We urge you to refuse to be used for a political party or other people’s selfish end especially where it concerns violence against other people, including those who hold different views from your own. It was the Lord Jesus who said, “Whatever you do to one of these little ones, you do it unto me (Matthew 25:45).
We call on all Zimbabweans and on all friends of Zimbabwe to continue to pray for our beautiful nation. As the shepherds of God’s flock, we shall continue to speak on behalf of Zimbabwe’s suffering masses and we pray that God’s will be done.
We remain God’s humble servants:
The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC)
I sincerely hope that blog readers are praying for the situation in Zimbabwe daily.
Kendall – what is the date of this statement? It mentions March 29, 2008 elections and then 4 weeks after that in reference to polling results not yet being released.
I’m leading a church over the Pacific to pray Sunday after Sunday for Zimbabwe.
Episcopalians are supposed to be praying, but are they praying for Robert Mugabe or against him? After all, they, along with the rest of the WCC members, have been very enthusiastic about their marxist pal in Zimbabwe for some time. And as TEC has been taking many of its cultural cues from the United Nations, would it be proper for Episcopalians to root against a fellow whom the UN just decided was above even the most rudimentary sanction?
This is truly a horrifying example of the brutality of dictatorial governments. I pray for the plight of the innocents being abused.
This report is almost incomprehensible to a little travelled American such as myself.
And yet, I don’t deceive myself. I know that if given the opportunity, there would be plenty of folks on this side of the pond who would all too gladly engage in such brutality around election time in order to get their way if given a chance. The excesses of such behaviour are constrained by centuries of rule by constitutional law and a long tradition of [mostly] civil and orderly democratic election processes-buttressed by a strong Christian influence upon society at large.
The Holy Spirit is the restrainer of evil who brings order out of chaos. I pray that the gracious God would send the restrainer to drive back those who would, through brutality and the stifling of the free consciences of dissenters, making a miserable farce of what should be a peaceful, orderly process, and that true liberty & justice would be established in the land of Zimbabwe; that He would be with the faithful in that nation to uphold the banner of Jesus Christ in the midst of such evil, and that the great goodness of Christ would prevail in the hearts of men over the schemes of the enemy. In Christs name, amen.
# 2, Cathy, the elections were in two stages. The first elections in March elected the parliament and gave a majority to the opposition. At the same time voting was held for the presidency, and it was these results that took over a month before they were released. The fact that it took so long pointed of course to the corrupt government of Robert Mugabe falsifying the results to make it seem as if no candidate had won 50% of the votes. With this false result duly declared, a run-off was ordered between Mugabe and the opposition leader Tsvangarai – and Mugabe and his men promptly launched a terrifying pogrom against the opposition. After nearly 100 deaths, some of them horrifyingly brutal, the opposition leader Tsvangirai withdrew from the run-off as it was impossible for him to campaign. Just one snippet: the wife of the mayor of the capital, Harare, was kidnapped. (Her husband opposed Mugabe.) She was beaten to death, her body dumped in the bush and her toddler son, who had been kidnapped with her, eventually dropped off at a police station. The declaration appeals to the SADC and in particular therefore, to South Africa, to do something to act. Desmond Tutu has called on South Africa to act. The Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane has called on his country to act. The South African Council of Churches, ditto, etc. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa does nothing and indeed appeared recently with Mugable holding hands with him. Utterly despicable. But then, as I have said before, I think that Mbeki may be autistic – he shows no emotion or emotional understanding whatsoever. And hence no compassion.
Kendall, I have been negligent. But no longer. Daily prayer for Zimbabwe it is.