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Zimbabwean Catholics urge government to 'step down'
Episcopal News Service
Issue:
Section:
2003-088-6
Posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2003
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In an unprecedented move, more than 200 Roman Catholics in Harare passed a no-confidence vote on President Robert Mugabe's government over the deteriorating human rights situation and economic decline in Zimbabwe.
'We ask, as our Christian duty and in the name of Christ our Lord, that the present government step down and hand over to those who are prepared to serve the country and all its people,' said a statement issued on April 23 by 201 lay Catholics drawn from various congregations in the nation's capital.
They did not suggest a replacement for the government after Mugabe whose office issued a statement on April 29 saying the 79 year-old president would not leave before his term ends in 2008. The statements came after the government launched a new crackdown on opposition supporters and human rights activists. State agents have been accused of torturing to death at least two people in separate incidents in the past month.
'The government has shown itself to be insensitive to the plight of the vast majority of its citizens and has been acting callously as it ensures its own well-being,' the statement said. 'It is no longer the government of the people irrespective of the supposed election results. The situation in our country cries out to Heaven for redress.'
Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a state of economic stagnation and near-anarchy, characterized by violence, shortages of fuel and basic household commodities, high inflation, mounting unemployment and grinding poverty for the majority of the population.
The Catholic church members deplored what they described as state-organized violence and the continuing harassment and arbitrary arrests of individuals and organizations perceived to be anti-government; as well as the muzzling of the press. They also criticized the skewered distribution of food aid along political party lines, and the government's controversial land reforms 'that have left fertile land lying fallow and farm workers with neither land nor employment.'
But in an interview broadcast on state radio and television on April 21, Mugabe defended his government's policies, blaming the country's woes on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and countries in the West that have imposed sanctions on leading Zimbabwean officials.
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| © 2004, The Episcopal Church, USA. Episcopal News Service content may be reprinted without permission as long as credit is given to ENS. |
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