Zimbabwe: "I will not be silenced" says archbishop

A Catholic Archbishop has said that he is prepared for anything, even death, in his quest to stand up against the repressive ZANU PF (Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front) regime which has caused so much suffering to Zimbabweans. In its Sunday (October 20, 2002) issue, the ZIMBABWE STANDARD reported Archbishop Pius Mvundla Ncube of Bulawayo declaring that he would not relent in his criticism of the regime. "Someone must stand up and do something, whatever the consequences. The world must also not watch and do nothing while Zimbabweans are killed by their own government," the paper quoted the shepherd as saying. "This terror campaign must come to an end. Zimbabweans have suffered enough." Archbishop Ncube's stand on the government has over the years brought him to loggerheads with President Robert Mugabe. Unknown people have also threatened the Archbishop with death. Ncube, 56, was reportedly unmoved by such threats, and would continue to speak out against a regime that is continuing to abuse the rights of its citizens. Saying that, state-sanctioned terror against the opposition had become the order of the day in Zimbabwe, the Archbishop cautioned: "Our leaders should stop blaming the west for our problems because Tony Blair or George Bush are not the problem in Zimbabwe. The problem in Zimbabwe is Mugabe." According to him, leaders of the ruling party have become the worst oppressors in Zimbabwe who are even denying starving people food. Bulawayo Archdiocese is in the country's western region of Matabeleland, which witnessed the worst atrocities committed on civilians in the early 1980s. About 20 000 people were massacred by government soldiers in what came to known as the 'Gukurahundi Atrocities'. source: Catholic Information Service Africa