ANGLICAN INFORMATION
‘A voice for the voiceless’
More eyewitness accounts on the Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe
Sunday, 27th April 2008

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION has been asked to distribute this report from a correspondent in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Harare Diocesan Chancellor, Bob Stumbles call for prayer for Zimbabwe today has gone to many countries of
the world. We are on our knees and really trusting the Lord. ANGLICAN-INFORMATION reports this is the case as the effective transmission of the plea for a day of Prayer has been widely disseminated across the Internet and churches everywhere have prayed today.

Our correspondent reports:

‘Tomorrow or the next day we have at last been promised the result of the
Presidential Election. The recount of some MDC parliamentary seats did not alter
the result in any, but was a good delaying tactic. Now candidates are being
asked to bring their results to the Electoral Commission, so there is a chance
that they will be disputed, and further delays can be blamed on the opposition.
It is a game of poker played out on the world stage.

The advantage of the delays to the Government are obvious. Intimidation is
occuring in more and more areas. People are flooding in to the towns for safety.
Matabeleland and Mashonaland are both suffering but the Inyanga mountains are
currently quiet. In the event of an expected forced Presidential rerun of the election everyone has to vote in their own village and fuel and fares are hugely expensive. Also who has lists of who is where?

300 people including children, who were sheltering in the MDC headquarters while 'safe houses' were found, were
arrested two days ago. The Human Rights Lawyers here are very stretched.’

‘An illustration as to how things are last week. We visited the Avenues
Hospital planning to visit, but were told only relatives were being allowed to
see patients. A few days earlier a man had come to see a badly injured patient,
claiming to be a relative. Fortunately real relatives arrived about the same
time. The man ran off, but could not find the way out. In desperation he pulled
out some burglar bars, broke a window and jumped. What was he up to? It was
assumed he had come to finish off the patient. So of course people are terrified
even in the relative safety of the city.’

Another report from the Anglican Diocese (Church of the Province of Central Africa): ‘By chance yesterday
I met our 'stand in ' priest at church. He had come on the bus to take a confirmation
class. Now he was worrying about today's service following the disruption at
St.Michael's Mbare last week. He felt we should accept the offer of the
Catholics and just have our service in their building. So we set off to see the
lawyer in our congregation, who is the Diocesan Registrar (C.P.C.A.). I
fortunately knew where he lived. His wife was in and told us he was at a meeting
of church wardens at St.Mary's Avondale, but she was thought our service had
been cleared with the police. I could hardly leave the priest on the roadside,
so off we went again. One man’s fears, had eaten up the
morning.’

Part two: received later (power cuts are now commonplace in Zimbabwe and transmissions get interrupted)

‘So our priest's fears were actually well founded and now he has been
arrested.....................’

‘Nolbert Kunonga's (self proclaimed Archbishop of Zimbabwe) lawyers are claiming
they own the churches. In the meantime, their appeal against the judgement of Mrs Justice Rita Makarau (Judge President of the High Court of Zimbabwe) that the factions can share the church buildings has apparently been accepted by the court, though there has as yet been no judgement. Our lawyer, who is the Diocesan Registrar, had already said this legally could not be the case.’

Dateline today Sunday 27th April: ‘We arrived at church to find the congregation in the road, and police at the
church doors. The priest and the senior police officer went back to the
station, and the congregation swarmed into the church singing, dancing, and
beating drums. The service began at 11.15, with the priest giving an extempore
homily about 'courage'. Poor man, yesterday he was very frightened. We then got
as far as the OT lesson (Ezekial 34 vv 1--7) and in came about twenty police,
ordering us to leave the church, arresting the priest, and then directing us out
of the car park. The priest and wardens having departed no one suggested we had
the Prayers for Zimbabwe in the road, so we all went home. There was no violence
and the police were not armed, unlike last week at St.Paul's Marlborough where
the women refused to leave the church and the riot police arrived. Apparently
they begged the people to leave. “We do not want to fire on you, but our orders
are to turn you out.” So they left.’
________________________________________
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION reports that stories like these and much worse are coming in all the time. Anglican Bishop Sebastian Bakare is leading the Diocese of Harare courageously in the face of threats and intimidation as he seeks to re-establish control. Nolbert Kungonga will however not fall until the Mugabe regime also goes down.

The reality is that the regime is now in the hands of senior army officers and Robert Mugabe increasingly a kind of figurehead hostage to them. It is not at all clear what will happen in these terrifying times and the risk of destabilising neighbouring countries is increasing.

This is the same Mugabe regime with which former Archbishop Bernard Malango of the Anglican Central African Province was recently so closely associated. That uncomfortable fact seems to be inhibiting any independent word of challenge to the Mugabe regime from the Anglican Province – speak up, acting Dean of the Province, Albert Chama – the world can’t hear you!

................END.............

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