By Stephen Brown
A group of Zimbabwean Christians have denounced "poverty, ill-health, bad
governance, corruption, fear and hopelessness" in this country.
The criticisms, unusually strong in a country where strong public dissent is rare, were
made in the Zimbabwean Kairos Document, published just before the start of the WCC
assembly on 3 December.
The document was produced by Ecumenical Support Services, a Christian non-governmental
organisation based in Zimbabwe which is often more progressive than Zimbabwe's mainstream
churches.
(Kairos is a Greek word used in the Bible to refer to "an opportunity for
repentance and a change of heart, for change and for decisive action with the oppressed in
a time of crisis". An earlier "Kairos" document, drawn up in 1985 by
Christians campaigning against apartheid in neighbouring South Africa, became a major
rallying point for opponents of white rule.)
According to the Zimbabwe document, the nation has been plunged into a "political,
economic, and, above all, moral crisis that is shaking its very foundation".
It claims that Zimbabwe is governed by a "Soviet Union-style single party
system" where "all power to initiate laws is placed "in the tightly
controlled party leadership, politburo and central committee".
Although the country is theoretically a multi-party democracy, the documents points out
that only three members of parliament do not belong to the President Robert Mugabe's
ruling ZANU (PF) party.
"Despite our hopes and expectations [at independence] in 1980, today we find new
black political and economic elites, which have replaced the old colonial elites within
the same structures," it says.
The document also criticises the country's churches, saying that while some churches
"have constantly challenged injustice, both before and after independence, many have
failed to educate their members about abuses of power by authorities".
The document adds: "In this sense, the churches share responsibility for the fear of
authority that has gripped us."
Among criticisms of the ruling ZANU (PF) party since independence is the claim that
thousands of hectares of land have been taken by government and given to senior ministers
and officials while peasants on communal land can barely eke out an existence.
It also says the government used "tanks and bullets" last January against
unarmed people demonstrating against rising food prices, leading to deaths and injuries;
and accuses ZANU (PF) of being a "ruling party with a disproportionate access to
financial support, control of both electronic and print media, dishonest registration and
balloting procedures, coercion and violence".
Ecumenical News International
