Financial Gazette (Harare)
10 April 2003
editorial
Harare — WHY is Pius Ncube such a controversial figure, reviled by the government and its propaganda machinery?
In 2000, the family of late Vice President Joshua Nkomo, baptised into the Catholic church late in his life, asked Ncube to officiate at his memorial mass in his capacity as the archbishop of Bulawayo.
President Robert Mugabe flatly refused to attend if Ncube was to officiate. Someone more acceptable to Mugabe than Archbishop Ncube had to be found at the last minute.
He has been the target of vicious innuendo by the state media. The Bulawayo Chronicle once alleged that there was "a surprising increase in homosexual pornography in Khami prison" after the archbishop visited the inmates there.
He has been accused of close ties to the Movement for Democratic Change, even of plotting with others to overthrow the government.
It has been alleged that he favours Ndebeles over others, and that large numbers of people in his diocese are leaving the church for that reason.
"They regularly fabricate stories about me, it has even been written that I raped somebody. I am under surveillance, my phone is tapped," said Ncube.
"My 87- year old mother has been interviewed by state agents, as well as young men studying for the priesthood, to make me feel afraid," he claimed.
Not wanting St Luke's in Lupane, a hospital under his diocese's jurisdiction, to fall into the same state of dysfunction as most state institutions, he refused to hand it over to government for use as a provincial referral hospital.
Because of this, he was accused of "preventing development".
Sitting opposite him at the diocesan head office at the St Marks Cathedral complex in the city centre of Bulawayo, it was hard to reconcile the mild mannered man before me with the ogre portrayed by the state media. He speaks in mild, low tones, and seems quiet and reserved.
Early on a Saturday morning, he is already looking pressured from the commitments before him that day. A wedding is scheduled for 08:00, and other duties await him in the afternoon. A queue of people seeking help is already forming outside. He had returned late the night before from a trip to the hospital in Lupane.
Within a few minutes of talking to him, it was evident why his utterances would be so worrisome to an embattled regime. It became clear why he is such an object of vilification by a state media that has discarded any pretensions of reflecting diverse views in favour of being an all out propaganda tool of the besieged government of Mugabe.
Ncube may be soft spoken, but the way he shoots his opinions straight from the hip is explosive.
He holds an extremely low opinion of President Mugabe and his government, and I was startled by the vehemence with which he expresses that low regard. He needed little prompting to give an impassioned catalogue of all the things he felt it was doing that were against the interests of the people of Zimbabwe.
It quickly became apparent why a government that is still coming to terms with its alienation from a large segment of the population would be so worried about a man like Pius Ncube.
It is no secret that Matabeleland has felt "marginalised" from the rest of the country since independence. Government massacres there in the early 1980s have been officially glossed over and downplayed, leaving festering hurts and resentments. The government's failure to address the arid region's water problems, despite years of promises, deeply rankle there.
All these sentiments were expressed in the embarrassing results of the constitutional referendum and general election of 2000, and in last year's presidential election, which showed that Mugabe and his government have little support in that part of the country.
Despite the much-vaunted Unity Accord of 1987 between Nkomo's ZAPU and Mugabe's ZANU, to form today's ZANU PF, it did little to address the many grievances of Matabeleland. What it did to Mugabe, however, was to lull him into a false sense of security about his support in that region as its most prominent leaders were silenced by co-option into his government. The election results of 2000 were therefore a shock to him.
It was in the months leading up to those elections that Archbishop Ncube first came to international prominence. He was a leader from Matabeleland who went against the grain of the "everything is just fine" message of the co-opted political leaders. Being an archbishop of a powerful church, he had a ready platform from which to spread his message far and wide to a disgruntled, receptive audience.
It was not easy for Mugabe's government to dismiss it as the politicking of a foe, the way they could with opposition leaders. Ncube could not simply be silenced by appointment to some government position with political power and generous perks, as had happened with many others. Clearly, he was an inconvenient spanner in the works of Mugabe and his regime, publicly and noisily pointing out how the emperor had no clothes in an unprecedented way.
Said the archbishop: "The constitutional referendum and general elections were the turning points. Mugabe blamed me for ZANU PF's poor results in Matabeleland. He felt threatened by the loss of his power base, and pretended to be uplifting Zimbabwe using land reform.
"Everybody, including the church, is in favour of land reform, but where have you heard of productive land being expropriated overnight?"
Ncube spoke out strongly against the violence accompanying the land seizures in 2000, which many critics said were being sponsored by the government. Several people were killed, with many more tortured, raped, dispossessed and displaced under the guise of land reform.
"There was a deliberate attempt to polarise people in order to control them, the old tactic of divide and rule," he charges.
The President did not react kindly to this kind of outspoken criticism from someone wielding obvious influence among the people, particularly as his was waning. Mugabe threatened: "We do not want to create trouble with men of God, but I think archbishop Ncube has gone too far.
"If he continues with his political stance we will challenge him as a politician."
The archbishop spends up to a third of his time visiting the approximately 40 parishes of his diocese, and is deeply aggrieved by the suffering he sees, which he blames on the government.
Ncube says of the President: "I have nothing against him personally. I don't dislike him. He is a gifted, intelligent man who once ran this country very well. I credit him as one of the liberators and founders of the country, but he is now the cause of a lot of suffering.
"There are awful shortages, the prices of everything are sky high, people can't live. All this is related to his method of grabbing land out of his love for power."
Banging his hand on his desk for emphasis, Ncube added: "The suffering of the economy rests squarely on Mugabe's head. It is typical of politicians to mess up and blame others for their faults. Mugabe is to blame. He is the enemy of the people."
I winced at his frankness, amazed that he did not ask that any part of his strong statements be off the record. I found myself being relieved on Ncube's behalf that President Mugabe recently declared that he does not read "the rubbish Press" and therefore will not be further infuriated by the archbishop's latest no holds-barred criticisms of him.
At a public lecture in South Africa last year, he said: "We face an absolutely desperate situation in Zimbabwe and our government is lying to the world about it. (It) continues to engage in lies, propaganda, the twisting of facts, half-truths, downright untruths and gross misinformation because they are fascists."
This is very strong stuff, and it is not difficult to see why Mugabe may consider Ncube one of the most dangerous loose cannons in Zimbabwe!
With an understated anger, Ncube went on: "Matebeleland is known to be drought prone. Cattle have perished here and many people will not reap a thing because of lack of water. There is no government relief to speak of.
"On the contrary, the government is putting all sorts of obstacles in the way of private efforts to relieve the suffering. You have to go through all sorts of red tape to import food, and a lot of it is denied entry or confiscated at the border."
He says what little government food relief there has been has often been directed at only those few districts that have voted for ruling party candidates, adding: "This government has no feelings for the people."
Ncube continued: "People feel the government doesn't care about them. Money is poured everywhere else except Matebeleland. In terms of health, education and infrastructure, Matebeleland lags behind the rest of the country.
"Nothing has been done about the long-talked about Zambezi water project, yet it is a priority; you can't have development without water. There are no other sources of water here, and many people in the southern-most parts of the region have not even ploughed this season for lack of it."
Does he subscribe to the theory of deliberate tribal marginalisation of Matebeleland?.
"Sometimes it is a tribal issue," he replied, "while other times there is an element of let's fix them for voting for the opposition. All investment is in Harare, sidelining Bulawayo. Government has been belittling Matebeleland since independence."
What is the background of this fearless cleric who has become such a thorn in the flesh of the political establishment?
"I was born in 1946 at Mtshabezi in the Gwanda area, where my mother's people come from. I began school in 1954 at Bongani, west of Bulawayo. At the age of 14, I transferred to St. Patrick's school in Bulawayo."
"I was deeply impressed by the selfless, people-centred example of the Catholic priests, who travelled long distances by bicycle to minister to people," Ncube recalled.
He did his secondary school at a seminary in Gweru then underwent training with the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus, at Chishawasha seminary on the outskirts of Harare from 1967 to 1973. He was ordained in 1973 and worked at various Catholic church outposts in Matebeleland.
From 1980 to 1983, he studied for a Master's degree in theology in Rome. He then went back to Chishawasha to teach for a year before serving as parish priest at the St. Patrick's of his primary schooling. He served as vicar general of St. Mary's cathedral in Bulawayo from 1990 to 1997, serving as the deputy to the then Swiss bishop.
The bishop nominated Ncube to succeed him, which the latter initially had misgivings about.
" I am a grassroots person, not an executive," he said.
I had no trouble believing that. He is down to earth, with none of the self-important airs of some people who occupy positions of power and responsibility. I felt immediately at ease with him.
As is the custom, the names of three nominees including his were sent to the Vatican in Rome, and he was selected. He was prevailed upon to accept and took up his appointment as archbishop of the diocese of Bulawayo in January 1998.
"I invited President Mugabe to my ordination. He gave a beautiful speech in which he talked about how government and the church can complement each other," recalled the archbishop.
Ncube got up to remove a copper clock in the shape of Zimbabwe from the wall to show me. It was inscribed "with compliments of the President of Zimbabwe, R. G. Mugabe", a gift from the President on the occasion of the archbishop's investiture. Obviously the honeymoon was very short-lived.
The archbishop would like to meet the President to break the impasse between them, and it has been said that Mugabe is also keen on meeting Ncube. I find it hard to imagine such a meeting now, in light of the archbishop's ever-sharpening criticism of the President. Ncube himself believes that despite Mugabe's apparently expressed willingness for a meeting, he is avoiding it. He says efforts by archbishop Chakaipa of Harare and John Nkomo when he was minister of home affairs to arrange such a meeting came to naught.
"My fellow bishops also wanted to arrange a group meeting with the President, but nothing came of it. He says he wants to see me, but works against it" said Ncube.
He repeatedly lamented the great suffering of the people he sees in his travels in Matabeleland.
Why don't politicians from the region, who have the ear of the President and are not suspected of ulterior motives, communicate this suffering to Mugabe? I asked.
"They are paid to pretend things are fine," Ncube replies without hesitation. Has he tried to beseech these politicians to lobby the President on behalf of the region? He makes gestures of exasperation indicating that he expects little from them.
When I ask him to name politicians from Matabeleland who are close to the President, he concedes: "at least John Nkomo (ZANU-PF national chairman and Minister of Special Affairs) will listen, he has a bit of decency."
He has no respect for Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe's minister of information under whom newspapers like the Chronicle have sunk to their "lowest and dirtiest".
"Jonathan Moyo doesn't like the truth, and he is a reflection of the President's own character," said the irrepressible Ncube. "These ministers are afraid of telling the President the truth and losing their positions. They merely dance to his tune."
Has he always been this outspoken, or is this a fairly recent development in his life? Ncube was outraged and deeply affected by the atrocities he saw being committed by the army's Fifth Brigade in the early 1980s, "but as a priest you have to let your superiors speak for you".
Now that he is the archbishop, "there is no one to stop me" he defiantly declares, leaning back in his chair and grinning.
He admits that in the early days of his speaking out there was much discomfort about it in the church. "I was urged to tone down my criticism of the government and just pray about the many problems I saw people experiencing, but I just could not keep quiet. I will not be silent at a time of crisis," he said.
Despite being thankful for the support he says he now gets, he admits that there is still widespread fear for his safety. He confesses to being under personal stress and has been urged by some well wishers to leave the country, but he resolutely refuses to consider this. "That's what they want, they would have won by silencing me," he says of the authorities.
The Catholic hierarchy in general have been accused of coddling the President by being quiet in the face of the many ills that are blamed on the government, such as state-sponsored violence and alleged rigging of elections. Ncube himself has pointed out that the church had a much higher profile during the Fifth Brigade atrocities, and played an important role in helping to embarrass the government in to ending them. It has not been so vocal in the past few years.
Is this partly because Mugabe is at least a nominal Catholic?
"No, I don't think so," Ncube replied. "That should actually be all the more reason to tell him off, because he is embarrassing the church." He believes the church's subdued role is due to a wish for change without rocking the boat too much. " The government has taken a stance that you are either for us or against us. The church is aware that unlike before, it has no qualms about persecuting even ministers of religion now, and no one wants to get hurt."
Many new independent churches cite the Catholic church as a staid establishment that exemplifies much of what has made religion lose its appeal for a lot of people. Is the church losing a lot of ground to the new churches? Ncube says many people still seek solace in the church, especially among the young. He is worried about the large numbers of young people who leave Matebeleland seeking opportunities in Botswana and South Africa, having given up on finding employment at home.
"Many, both young men and women, have to resort to selling their bodies there to try to survive, worsening the AIDS crisis," he said.
He does concede the pull of the many mushrooming Pentecostal churches. "They have studied the psychology of the young, and attract them with lively music, emotional preaching and by affirming them," he admitted . If they have some good innovations, why does the conservative Catholic church not borrow some pages from their book?
" As a large, old institution, the church changes very slowly," Ncube responded frankly. He went on: "We must also ask about motive. Are we after mere numbers and the glorification of the ministers or the glorification of God?"
He quipped: "Some of the happy clappers make a fast impression, but it also often dies very fast. Religion must be based on something more solid than popularity."
He feels the new churches are focused the well to do youth, with the poor youth being sidelined. He also disagrees with what he feels is the fundamentalism of the Pentecostal churches. It is not just the politicians who will have daggers drawn for the opinionated, outspoken archbishop!
Several times, Ncube mentions the horrors allegedly committed by the government "green bomber" youth brigades. He catalouged the rape that many female recruits undergo in their training camps and the violence the youth engage in on behalf of the ruling party. "Young people should be properly educated, not mis-educated like the green bombers are," he said with feeling.
"Not all problems can be blamed on government," he added, in response to my question about the cause of the general breakdown in morality in what has always been described as a deeply conservative society. "Traditional and Christian values are gone now, there are no taboos any more. Everyone now aims for a glorious house, a big posh car, and a cell phone acquired by any means."
"Everyone wants to be marveled at. Some pastors are stinking rich from starting churches, while their people are starving. The love for power and status are very strong in Zimbabwe," he charged.
"Let's learn to respect human values and to see the dignity of every human being. Let us move towards spiritual values, the love of God, and away from undue attachment to the three things the devil used to tempt Jesus: pleasure, power and property," appealed Ncube. He attributed AIDS, political violence and corruption on society's over-emphasis on these materialistic values..
Never straying far from the issue of political governance, he said: "It is very hard to heal society with a government that will lie, cheat and shed blood to achieve its aims. They are imparting evil values to the youth through the green bombers. You cannot have healing when there is so much tension and depression among the people."
He believes the state-sponsored violence is bound to stop "because it is now eating its own children. Even the perpetrators of violence on behalf of the government are beginning to suffer from the many and increasing ills of the society. They are misled and brain-washed, and act as robots for Robert Mugabe. He is a brainy manipulator who uses less intelligent people for his own ends."
Does he support the MDC? "As a clergyman, I am neutral, but I can not vote for ZANU-PF when I think of the violence, starvation and general suffering of Zimbabweans it is responsible for. ( MDC leader Morgan) Tsvangirai may not be too effective in networking and strategising, but I can not vote for a murderous regime like that of Mugabe."
He blames Zimbabwe's impasse on the "over-glorification of Mugabe." He pointed out that Zambians and Malawians told leaders who had outlived their usefulness to go, "but the people of Zimbabwe have been unable to take a united stance against Mugabe. We are to blame for spoiling him. We should tell him you have done enough harm, you must go now," said the fiery bishop.
In one corner you have the arrogant, fearsome and wicked bully Goliath with all his stupid oppressive laws, his many brutal warriors armed to the teeth, his lying newspapers, and his opportunistic yes-men and hangers on. They ridicule the small, lone David in the other corner, but in their panicky actions show themselves to be terrified of his simple weapon of truth. Everybody knows how the story eventually ends.
You can be sure that despite all the intimidation he faces, archbishop Ncube will continue to have a lot to say.
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