HARARE - 23 April 2007 - 309 words
Zimbabwe: Anglican bishops voice support for Mugabe
Dan Bergin
Africa's Anglican bishops issued a message on Friday expressing their support for the Zimbabwean government days after the Catholic Bishops' Easter message condemning government policies and appealing for change.
According to agency reports, the Anglican pastoral letter, released ahead of this week's independence celebrations acknowledges Zimbabwe's economic crisis has "rendered the ordinary Zimbabwean unable to make ends meet."
But the 14 Anglican bishops of the central African Episcopal Synod blame the worsening plight of poor Zimbabweans largely on Western economic sanctions. Foreign investment and loans to the country have dried up after six years of political and economic turmoil following the often-violent seizures of thousands of white-owned farms that began in 2000.
Western governments say they have only imposed targeted sanctions on Zimbabwean assets abroad and travel restrictions which affect rulers and policymakers.
Zimbabwe's nine Catholic bishops marked Easter with an unprecedented call on Mugabe to retire. It warned that the current situation is reaching meltdown and the country could face a mass violent revolt.
The Catholic Bishops' pastoral letter accused the ruling elite of racism and corruption and fomenting lawlessness and violence to cling to power and wealth, factors they said led to the economic meltdown. The letter decried state-orchestrated intimidation, beatings and torture
The Anglican Church has been traditionally muted in its criticism of the government, with its leaders generally toeing the ruling party line.
Harare's bishop Nolbert Kunonga, was one of the signatories of the Anglican letter. Frequently praised in the state media for his "progressive sentiment." Kunonga has denounced some black clergy as "Uncle Toms" and puppets of whites and Britain and the United States for their criticism of Mugabe.
*Zimbabwean exiles in the United Kingdom observed a Prayer Vigil on Saturday afternoon, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London to mark what they say is a holocaust now taking place in their homeland.
The Vigil was led by two visitors fresh from Zimbabwe, Useni Sibanda and Promise Manceda of the Zimbabwean Christian Alliance (ZCA). The ZCA spearheads the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, the umbrella organisation from which the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe,s main opposition party, and civic bodies in Zimbabwe are campaigning for change.
* * Useni and Promise will be addressing the Central London Zimbabwe Forum tonight at 7.30 pm. Venue: The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum at Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4JX, Nearest tube: Old Street.
Source: ZW News/SZC
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