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AFP
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck
The Zimbabwean government has rejected a letter from Roman Catholic bishops emphasizing corruption, poverty and human rights abuses.
“There is no crisis, political or otherwise,” said Information Secretary Nick Mangwana.
He accused the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop’s Conference (ZCBC) of joining groups seeking “to produce crises”.
The bishops had called for an urgent resolution for the economic and political challenges of the country.
“The struggle in Zimbabwe has resulted in a multi-layered crisis of convergence of economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity and human rights abuses,” seven bishops from Zimbabwe’s major cities and towns said in a letter issued on Friday.
“Corruption in the country has reached alarming levels,” she added.
Zimbabweans have protested against alleged government corruption and a deepening economic crisis with inflation at more than 700%.
However, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has blamed his political opponents for collaborating with foreigners to destabilize the country. He called them “bad apples” and warned them he would “track them down”.
His government has recently drawn strong criticism over a collapse that targeted anti-government protesters, resulting in several people being attacked and arrested.
Prominent journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was accused last month of inciting public violence. He is still in custody after being denied bail.
He had exposed corruption in the health ministry during the purchase of medical supplies to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
Images of policeman attacks by Protestants have been shared online, using a worldwide campaign using the hashtag #ZimbabweanLivesMatter to highlight rights abuses.
Celebrities such as rappers Ice Cube, AKA and Lecrae and actresses Thandie Newton and Pearl Thusi have expressed support.
What else did the bishops say?
“Fear streams the backs of many of our people today. The collapse of dissent into unusual,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Zimbabwe said in its letter.
“Voices from various governments, the European Union, the African Union, and the United Nations on the desperate situation in Zimbabwe have not only confirmed the seriousness of the violation of human rights by law enforcement agents, but the need to back down. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter to ride, “they said.
But writing in the state newspaper The Herald, Mr Mangwana defended the government.
“Zimbabwe, like most countries in the world, is currently grappling with challenges posed by illegal sanctions, drought and the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
He said President Mnangagwa had demonstrated his commitment to fighting corruption, highlighting the arrest of high-profile individuals and strengthening anti-corruption bodies.
The information secretary also said the bishops ignored the impact that nearly two decades of economic sanctions had on the country.
His senior colleague, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, however, shrugged in her criticism of the church leaders, in particular the president of the ZCBC, Archbishop Robert Ndlovu of the Ndembele ethnic group.
She described him as “evil-minded”, accusing him of disrupting ethnic divisions and making comparisons with the role of the Church in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
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AFP
Ms Mutsvangwa remarks were dismissed as dangerous hate speech
Opposition party MDC Alliance called the remarks “appealing hate speech” and “unacceptable”.
“Singing an archbishop of Ndebele … is discrimination on tribal grounds,” tweeted MDC-Alliance spokeswoman Fadzayi Mahere, warning against reviving the “history of genocide” in Zimbabwe.
In the 1980s, thousands of civilians – especially ethnic Ndebeles – were killed when the late former president Robert Mugabe led a military-style attack on alienated militants known as Gukurahundi.
The Ndebeles were seen as supporting the opposition, while Mugabe was from the Shona majority ethnic group.
Several people commenting on Twitter have cited Msvangwa comments as dangerous hate speech.
More about Zimbabwe’s economic crisis:
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