Zimbabwe’s main Christian churches have come together and warned President Robert Mugabe that the country faces civil unrest and “state collapse”.
Mugabe, 92, is Catholic but seldom attends church.
In a rare political statement, the Catholic Bishop’s Conference and most other mainstream Christian churches put their names to a sharply-critical statement this week.
They said widespread grievances, brought into public earlier this month by the social media campaign, #This Flag, are a sign of impending civil unrest if Mugabe does not address instability.
“These grievances must be viewed as the early warning sign which indicate underlying and simmering tensions that will soon explode into civil unrest if not addressed. We call upon the government to immediately investigate and prosecute law enforcement agents (the Zimbabwe Republic Police) that are alleged to have brutalised people,” the churchmen said in a statement.
“The government should also urgently act and address these genuine concerns of the citizens to avoid total collapse of the state.”
They claim many people have lost “confidence and trust” in Mugabe who has been in power since 1980 independence.
“There is [an] urgent need for national dialogue between the government and different national stakeholders, towards finding a lasting solution, rather then ignore or politicise people’s genuine grievances and label them as opposition, or demonise and harass the church and her leaders,” the statement said.
Bishop Chad Gandiya leader of the Anglican Diocese of Harare who was out of Zimbabwe when the church statement was released this week, said: “We, the Anglican community in Zimbabwe, support this statement and we will endorse it formally when I return home.”
Pastor Evan Mawarire, 39, father of two, who leads a small congregation in Harare, was arrested after a string of protest messages from his #ThisFlag site sparked a national strike on July 6.
When charges against him were dropped the following day there was massive celebration from thousands of supporters outside the Harare Magistrate’s Court.
Shortly after he was released from police cells he left via road to South Africa to “calm down and gather my thoughts,” he said in an interview this week.
On Tuesday, Mugabe said that Mawarire should stay away from Zimbabwe as he was funded by foreigners and used violence to lead his protest movement.
After Mugabe’s remarks Mawarire said he was not sure if he could now return home as lawyers in Harare have warned him that he will be charged with treason.
“I am a very worried man after hearing what our head of state said about me this week,” he said.
David Moore, prominent Zimbabwe historian and political analyst said: “Clearly the churches, including the wealthy Evangelicals which were close to Zanu PF and Mugabe, are worried about the shortage of cash in Zimbabwe.
“There is a real crisis within the factionalising of all segments of Zanu PF as Mugabe loses his grip. The #This Flag movement is the very early stages of a new politics in Zimbabwe which is going to be volatile.”
Since April, Zimbabwean banks have almost run out of US dollars which is the main currency since 2009 when Mugabe abandoned the Zimbabwe dollar after it became worthless following years of hyperinflation.
Zimbabwe is critically short of food in the rural areas — where most people live — following a gruelling drought last summer.
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