Bishop of Harare on persecution in Zimbabwe

|PIC1|As the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) I would like to express by profound shock at the way lawlessness is being perpetrated by some of our law enforcement agents, namely the police against innocent citizens who have not committed any crime but were merely gathering for prayer as usual.

As a person who was equally involved in the liberation struggle of this nation, I never dreamt that after getting rid of a colonial system which denied me basic human rights, I would one day lead a church that is being persecuted by our own government.

The events of the past weekend have led me to believe that there is a deliberate attempt to persecute Anglican Christians in this diocese. It makes me wonder whether the Anglican Church in Harare Diocese is an easy target because it was once associated closely with the colonial government. Or else, why has it become a scapegoat to the point that even the legal system has remained indifferent to pass a judgment on a case that was submitted in October 2007 concerning the ownership of the assets of the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) which Kunonga is claiming ownership of, after having left the very Church Province and formed his own church?

Why do the police enforcement agents keep on telling us that they are getting "orders from above" when they come to interfere with our services? After all Kunonga has no followers except a few clergy and their families.

The events of Saturday 19th April where 3200 members of Mothers' Union had gathered at St. Michael's Church Mbare to commemorate Mary's Day and were chased away by riot police under the so-called directive from above, are a case in point.

The mothers had gathered from 7 am onward coming from distant places as far as Kariba, and had spent several hours praying and singing as is usually done on such a day, only to be told by police that they were no longer allowed to use the premises of this church and should disperse forthwith.

The women continued praying only to be surprised a little later by riot police driving into the crowd at a high speed so as to intimidate the women. Many of them were crying and began to run away leaving old ladies with walking sticks behind who started walking slowly towards the gate.

They could not believe that this is how the Anglican Church is being treated at the hands of Kunonga and his henchmen in the police in a country that is celebrating 28 years of independence. I ask myself: What does independence mean for these women? Indeed the suffering they endured during colonial days come back to their memories, but this time perpetrated by their own people.

As a Bishop of this Diocese I was reminded of Christian churches who were persecuted in communist countries before the fall of the iron curtain. What is sad though in our situation is that we claim to be a Christian country whose constitution also upholds freedom of worship.

The other aspect which is very confusing is that only a day before on Independence Day, President Mugabe had made it very clear at Gwanzura Stadium that Zimbabweans should not have to use violence against one another as members of one family. One really wonders whether this lawlessness we are experiencing remains unnoticed.

The Saturday events were followed by more disturbances of our church services throughout the Diocese on Sunday 20th April based on an appeal by Kunonga's church to the Supreme Court which has not been heard to date, and assisted by police officers and so-called ex-combattants who once again claim to have received orders from above.

Any genuine ex-combattant would be shocked by such a criminal behaviour. The Sunday events resulted in many of our Anglicans not being able to attend their normal church services. There is absolutely no justification for such kind of unruly behaviour perpetrated against innocent people and their clergy.

I feel extremely dismayed at how the rights of my people in my diocese have been seriously eroded, and I condemn these acts of lawlessness in the strongest terms. I call upon the courts for justice to be done to the Anglican Diocese of Harare (CPCA).