ANGLICAN-INFORMATION
‘A voice for the voiceless’
A letter from Zimbabwe & and two sides of the Anglican Central African Province
- resistance and collaboration
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Letter from Zimbabwe. From our correspondent in Harare

First, the good news: God willing, one congregation, St Peter's, Meyrick Park, Mabelreign, will return to their church building next Sunday for an 11 o'clock service after the Kunonga 'priest's'
service is over. This was announced last Sunday by a lawyer in the congregation,
who is also the Diocesan Registrar. The congregation have been meeting as usual in
the Roman catholic Church Hall at Mabelreign. The lawyer said they had gone back to the courts
because of police harrassment and the closure of 53 Anglican churches in the diocese.
The original judgement by Judge Rita Makarau that the churches should be shared
was now to be followed. Talks had taken place with the Kunonga people who had apparently
agreed not to disrupt the services further. When this notice was given out there
was a huge cheer, clapping and ululating. People stood up waving their arms in
excitement. One thing we have realised in the last months is that the church is
the people not the building, but we are still rather fond of our place of worship.
However - it remains to be seen whether or not the police have indeed withdrawn!

Now the bad news: The political situation has deteriorated out of all
recognition. With inflation exceeding two million percent and food desperately short,
members of the opposition are no longer just at risk of beating, but
at risk of their lives. Our first hand informant is a prominent MDC member,
living in a shack in one of the poorest areas of town. The family had their home
destroyed at the Murambatsvina in 2005, but have managed to get going again
living in a glorified tent supplied by the Roman catholic Church. Now they are
subjected to endless rallies, which they have to attend. In addition they were
collected from there home by the Zanu-PF youth for beating. The mother was subjected to
two hours of intimidation and watched others being beaten, but they actually
relented when she handed her two months old baby to them when it was her turn.
But they assured her that they would come and burn down her house. The police
were informed but did nothing. We asked her if her children (11, 9 and 7)
understood what was going on.
'Oh, yes,' she said cheerfully, 'They have watched people being beaten'.
Since this happened she, her husband who has a job, and her five children have
slept rough, despite the wintery conditions. They are now in a 'safe house'.
The teenage son has been left behind with a neighbour to feed the chickens. She
feels herself to be lucky as when they came for another MDC leader, who was in
hiding, they took his wife and hacked her to death with machetes. The body was
found in a field, but burial has been impossible as they assure the family that
anyone who arranges it will be arrested and........

At night the Zanu PF Youth either call people to Pungwes (‘Parties’ all-night sessions of
re-education including forced singing of Zanu-PF slogans and songs), or they march about the township shouting.
Any youths they find are told to join them on pain of a beating. On one night it was estimated that
800 youths were involved. Some obviously stay with them because they are fed.
The food is taken from the people. If your home is selected for a donation you
must either give them Z$10 billion, or 10Kg of maize meal, or you are beaten. In
the better off townships this is going on, but on a smaller scale. They seem to
target the poorest of the poor. Presumably as food gets shorter and shorter they
must move into the low density suburbs. So far there has been no concerted
attacks on Europeans, but some of their servants have been targetted for the
crime of working for a European.

No one has any idea as to what will happen next.

Thank you again for all the prayers.
________________________________________
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
In addition ANGLICAN-INFORMATION has received from ZADHR detailed documentation of the medical outcome of many cases of beatings (including of pregnant and nursing mothers) death through beating, burnings, crushing and other means of torture. They are too numerous and too horrible to list here but they have all been perpetrated by government sponsored Zanu-PF gangs attacking people for voting the wrong way. There is more information on the ZADHR website: www dot kubatana dot net

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Resistance and collaboration in the Anglican Province of Central Africa
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION observes that Central African Provincial Bishops, Sebastian Bakare of Harare and Peter Hatendi of Manicaland remain bravely in the front line in Zimbabwe with their priests and people, replacing renegade and now excommunicated ‘Archbishop’ Nolbert Kunonga and Bishop Elson Jakazi.

The Central African Anglican Province is at a critical juncture as world opinion at last moves into condemnation of the atrocities committed by the Mugabe regime: In the United Nations Security Council even China, and Russia have shifted to condemn Mugabe and more significantly surrounding African nations including, Botswana, Angola, Senegal and even South Africa are now beginning to criticise the Zimbabwe regime.

However, a significant problem for the Central African Bishops remains in that some of their number, especially those associated with former Archbishop Bernard Malango, have been very close to the Mugabe administration and that taint is hard to shake off. Strictly speaking, under the terms of the recent excommunication Malango should also be defrocked and certainly suspended from any priestly activities which he still seems to be conducting. Instead, Malango still appears to be exercising dubious political influence and interference in the Province both personally and through his protégé acting Dean Albert Chama.

The Provincial House of Bishops cannot continue indefinitely to appear to be moving in two opposing directions by, on the one hand, resisting the Mugabe regime and denouncing its mouthpiece Kunonga, whilst, at the same time, tacitly supporting it through the continuing active legacy of Bernard Malango.

A message to the House of Bishops: ‘Get rid of Bernard Malango and his supporters, they are ruining your good work and brave resistance and seriously damaging your credibility!’

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

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION
‘A voice for the voiceless’

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