Troublesome priest
zakanaka
Troublesome priest
By Michael Hartnack
The quiet-spoken Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, has
become the leading hate-figure for Robert Mugabe's propaganda machine.
Enraged by renewed charges from the archbishop - and many others - that the
regime is using food aid as a political weapon by blocking supplies to
opposition areas, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo denounced Ncube as a
"mad bishop," and called for his resignation. "He is a desperate and very
troubled soul ... someone who needs help, and if you are fair you provide
that help," Moyo said in remarks that appeared to many to have an ominous
and sinister undertone. Leaders of the other Christian churches in Bulawayo
have rallied round Ncube in his latest confrontation with Mugabe's regime.
And friends in the city say measures are being taken continuously to try to
ensure the archbishop's safety following a series of anonymous death threats
and calls on him by the feared Central Intelligence Organisation. Agents of
the CIO began questioning the archbishop about his sermons in April 2000.
But public support from Ncube's fellow Catholic bishops in Zimbabwe, who
include apologists for the regime, is conspicuously lacking. And the
Anglican Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, is a blatant supporter of
Mugabe, and recently tried to have a group of lay Anglicans banned from the
cathedral for drowning his pro-Mugabe sermons with hymn-singing. Catholic
Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa of Harare, a longstanding friend of Mugabe, has
been silent, having tried unsuccessfully to suppress a Catholic Justice and
Peace Commission report into 1982-87 atrocities in Matabeleland. Chakaipa
conducted the 1996 marriage to a divorcee of Mugabe, who himself professes
to be a Catholic. In Mutare, Catholic Bishop Alexio Muchabaiwa has shrunk
from denouncing the expulsion by Mugabe's "war veterans" and the CIO of a
Catholic priest, Father Patrick Kelly, from his parish in the Eastern
Highlands. "One has to be very careful in matters of this nature because you
are putting many lives in danger," Muchabaiwa said when questioned by
journalists.
Diplomats and some local analysts say Mugabe may regard Ncube as a greater
threat than Morgan Tsvangirai, leader and presidential candidate of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Tsvangirai has been battered
politically since Mugabe claimed victory in this year's presidential
election, widely regarded as rigged, and stepped up state persecution of
opponents. But Ncube, University of Zimbabwe political scientist John
Makumbe commented, represents an invincible "constituency" -- the church.
"What we need is four or five men like him and the regime would really be in
big trouble," said Makumbe. " ... He (Ncube) is dragging the church to do
its work because even within it there are some who would rather keep quiet."
Ncube has been subjected to a new bout of concerted attacks from the regime
since delivering the Archbishop Denis Hurley lecture in Durban on November
8. Charging that 160 people have already died of starvation in Matabeleland
and thousands more were at risk, the archbishop told fellow churchmen: "We
face an absolutely desperate situation in Zimbabwe and the government is
lying to the world about it. Our government continues to engage in lies,
propaganda, the twisting of facts, half truths, downright untruths and gross
misinformation -- because they are fascists."
When Mugabe's so-called Third Chimurenga was launched in February 2000
following his defeat in a constitutional referendum, Archbishop Ncube
declared: "Land is no longer the issue: it is political power. Mugabe knows
he had little chance of winning elections and he is trying to use
intimidation to wipe out opponents." Hymn-singing Christians wept in the
streets of Bulawayo last year when the archbishop led a historic show of
inter-denominational solidarity - a march from the Catholic Cathedral to the
City Presbyterian Church, to protest against the abduction and murder of
government opponents. The protesters were shadowed by a menacing force of
the para-military riot squad, and security police tried to move into the
church itself to arrest opposition figures on their wanted list. Ncube's
message than was his message in Durban: "Lobby by all peaceful means
possible for a peaceful solution to the Zimbabwean crisis." He warned that
"arrests, arson, torture, and selective distribution of food" will not serve
to keep Zimbabweans in subjection forever. Following his Durban lecture, the
leaders of the Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, and
Church of Christ denominations issued a joint statement of support for
Ncube. "We condemn in the strongest terms the actions of Mugabe and his
government in hijacking food . . the campaign of violence and intimidation.
We call the government to repentance and a change of heart, to listen to the
cries of the people," they said.
Ncube, 55, was born into a peasant family in the politically troubled Gweru
borderland between rival tribes, Shona and Ndebele, and rival political
parties, Zanu and Zapu He attended school in Gweru, a flashpoint for
inter-communal violence since the birth of African nationalism in the late
1950s. He trained for the priesthood at Chishawasha Seminary, near Harare,
and was ordained in 1973. In the 1980s he spent two years in Rome, studying
advanced theology and social teachings. Returning home in 1985, Ncube was
appointed Vicar-General, and in 1998 took over the Bulawayo diocese from an
equally fearless predecessor, Bishop Henry Karlen. The archbishop says he
does not support any political party but is charged with a "prophetic
mission" to speak out for the downtrodden and for justice. The official
response has included a calculated campaign to smear Ncube with allegations
he is "soft" on homosexuals and child-abusers within the church. The
archbishop has also criticized Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms, saying
he favours land redistribution, but not without compensating the owners and
providing resources for people settled on the former commercial farms and
ranches. "I don't think it's appropriate to grab people's properties without
compensation. Some of these people only have their land as their source of
livelihood -Mugabe's process is just a gimmick for his own political
survival," he said. "You can't talk of land resettlement without adequate
back up infrastructural resources like clinics, schools and equipment for
the resettled farmers."