The bishops of Zimbabwe have released a proposal for restoration and
peace in the country following the national elections which were held in
July and which have polarized the nation's people.
“We write this Pastoral Letter three months after the national elections
were conducted, when the dust from those elections has settled down
somewhat,” the bishops wrote in their Dec. 3 letter, released by charity
Aid to the Church in Need.
“From where we stand as shepherds in God's vineyard, we are compelled to
observe that the elections have left Zimbabweans more polarized than
they were before and during the years of the Inclusive Government,”
which ran from 2009 to 2013.
The Zimbabwean elections, held July 31, were won by president Robert
Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party; Mugabe has held power in the country since
it gained independence in 1980. He was challenged primarily by Morgan
Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change.
Elections in 2008 were contested and had been marred by violence after a
period of hyperinflation. Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic
Change agreed to a power-sharing agreement, with Tsvangirai serving as
prime minister from 2009-2013.
Observer groups were divided on the freedom and fairness of this year's
elections, but the violence experienced in 2008 was notably absent in
2013, with the bishops calling it “a generally and relatively peaceful
poll during which reported incidents of intimidation, intolerance and
violence were minimal.”
However, they said that “the political fault lines and their impact on
all aspects of the lives of Zimbabweans are set not only to deepen, but
also to stand in the way of progress and ultimately in the way of
peace.”
The bishops noted “with apprehension that three months after the dust
from the elections began to settle down, there are no visible prospects
for improvement in the spheres of life in Zimbabwe that cry for
restoration to give people hope for a better life.”
They pointed four issues which need to be addressed for the common good
of Zimbabwe. First, re-engagement with the international community, and
then three areas of economic restoration: the national economy,
especially manufacturing; the public sector, including health and
education; and Zimbabwe's “historical status” as southern Africa's
“bread basket” with “food security for her people.”
“The need to create viable platforms to address effectively the areas
outlined above for the benefit of our people and country cannot be
overemphasized.”
Since 2000, Zanu-PF has pursued “indigenization” of the economy, seizing
land and other assets from white owners to give it to native
Zimbabweans, and blocking immigrants from such places as Nigeria and
China from certain economic sectors.
The country's bishops lamented that industrial sites “carry the
appearance of ghost towns because the once-vibrant manufacturing sector
is now largely moribund.”
“The dignity of our people has been severely eroded as they have become
reduced to sellers of cheap goods and products at street corners in our
cities in order to survive.”
They noted a severe lack of public services which impede Zimbabwean's
“hope for a better life,” and emphasized that “it need not be like
this.”
Zimbabwe has “abundant natural resources,” they said, and “resilient,
God-fearing and highly skilled people,” which “gives us encouragement
and hope that Zimbabweans can transform this unsatisfactory situation
and in its place create a better life.”
For this to happen, the bishops wrote, there must be “political will at
all levels of our society and institutions to work towards the
achievement of the common good, political will to transcend differences
in order for all Zimbabweans to work together as one family.”
In the face of polarization, they called for Zimbabweans to “transcend
their differences and work together for the common good of our country.”
They pointed to the power-sharing government which had made “some
visible progress” toward a better lot, especially for the poor, which
was possible because the people and parties were collaborating for the
common good.
The bishops lamented that the power-sharing agreement was “a temporary
marriage of convenience,” and said it demonstrated that a
“winner-take-all political arrangement will not benefit Zimbabwe and her
people,” and that neither of the parties can alone “achieve the
restoration … so sorely need(ed).”
They cited Benedict XVI's message for 2013's World Day of Peace, saying his insight “is the message Zimbabwe needs most.
The Pope had called for a “new economic model” based on fraternity and
self-gift rather than consumption and profit-maximization.
The bishops wrote, “We in Zimbabwe can have 'life to the fullest' if we
heed the words of Pope Benedict XVI as inspired by the Apostle John and
put in place 'a new economic model' across all sectors of our economy,
an economic model that is inclusive, that draws from the abundant pool
of expertise that we are blessed with among our people and that
transcends political and any other boundaries.”
They urged that experts be allowed to address the four areas of national
need in a non-partisan way, without respect to their political or
religious affiliation, saying, “this is the Agenda for Zimbabwe’s
restoration that we urge the Government, the Opposition and all of us as
Zimbabweans to embrace.”
“We believe that if we all pray to the Lord for conversion and belief in
our hearts and observe the principles of fraternity and gratuitousness
enjoined upon us by Pope Benedict XVI, the new model can work and the
Lord will, as he promised, heal our land,” they concluded.
“We pray that the season of Advent and Christmas, the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ as one of us, may help us address all areas of our
greatest need.”