Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Tichaendepi Chuma
27 February 2006
opinion
Harare — THE recent utterances through Short Wave Radio Africa by Roman Catholic Church Archbishop for Bulawayo Diocese, Pius Ncube, urging the international community, South Africa in particular, to exert more pressure on Zimbabwe to carry out political reforms, should be seen as views from a demented clergyman who has not only become dangerous to himself but to the institution of the Church as well.
The Bishop should not take Zimbabweans to be a gullible lot ready to dance to his parochial whims. His utterances point to a man with a terrible neurotic resentment of Zanu-PF, a party he wanted destroyed yesterday, even if that means derailing the country into poverty. That is Pius Ncube, the notorious Roman Catholic clergyman.
The Roman Catholic Church must realise that by continuing to keep Ncube within its ranks it is destroying its credibility at least in the country, if not in the region. Ncube's life is marked with a record of selling out to the colonial white man and he must now be exposed for what he is.
Ever since he was ordained as a priest in 1973 at the height of the liberation struggle, Ncube never criticised the colonial policies of Ian Smith's government. Instead, Ncube chose to work closely with hard white racists dating back to 1962 when he met Sister Desideria, a Catholic nun who committed him to the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Ncube is said to have been indoctrinated by Sister Desideria that the Church had to stand against black nationalist terrorism. The two struck a common ideological orientation towards nationalist politics which saw Ncube being facilitated to attain his licentice (attestation of competency) at the Vatican, Italy, in 1974. During this period, Bishop Ncube was being used to undermine black nationalism by preaching peace and unity.
Now it is the same Bishop Ncube who tells the nation that the Church should stand up against "failing leaders" when it is him who never raised his head from the sand to criticise racist and oppressive policies of Smith. It is known that he prayed to Divine Providence to give Smith more wisdom to govern (oppress and kill black people). Ncube unveiled his true colours by praying for President Mugabe to die. This is the gravest of sins coming from a man of the collar. Praying for the death of the head of State? The Roman Catholic Church did not say a word to tame this theological demagogue and megalomania! Surely the Church must stand ashamed.
During his recent media statements, Bishop Ncube asked South Africa to put more pressure on Zimbabwe by imposing tough economic sanctions by disconnecting electricity supplies to Zimbabwe. The people should not forget that in 2002, MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai made the same calls to South Africa to achieve regime change. Bishop Ncube has teamed up with the MDC to vandalise the economy, all in the hope of achieving regime change. The Bishop is known to have a hand on who should be included in the West's list of the so-called targeted sanctions.
This author has always warned that sanctions are a scotched earth policy. There is absolutely no such thing as targeted sanctions. They can never be selective. In fact, they are intended to cause hardships within the electorate so that the people revolt against their leaders.
Zimbabweans were duped by the likes of Bishop Ncube that sanctions would wreak havoc within the First Family. Now the people must ask themselves who is in a better situation, the First Family or the common man.
The practical issue is that when economic hardships bite, resources first dry up at the lower ranks of society. This is the group that feels the real pinch. The last to be affected by the sanctions are the powerful and the rich. So, when small-headed people like Bishop Ncube went to campaign for sanctions they did not know they were shooting themselves in the foot.
Happily, Zimbabweans have realised that it is the man on the street that stands to suffer the most because of sanctions. No wonder why there are growing public calls that Zanu-PF and the MDC should talk to each other to end economic decline. Bishop Ncube should know that mass action, which he has been preaching, does not work. Mass action has been tried since the food riots of 1997 with no results. In fact, this writer will be putting a separate installment on why mass actions will not work in Zimbabwe.
Those who had been deceived by Bishop Ncube that he stands for good need to know the man. The Bishop has been taking a crucial role in recommending bogus asylum seekers to get entry into the United Kingdom claiming that they were under persecution by Zanu-PF. A case in point was in February 2005 when he misrepresented to the British visa office that Dominic Ncube, his relative, was being harassed by Zanu-PF militias and war veterans in Matabeleland North for working for the MDC. Bishop Ncube claimed that Zanu-PF supporters and war veterans had visited Dominic's homestead on three occasions. As a result, Dominic got the visa.
On many occasions, Bishop Ncube gave interviews to pirate radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe, in all instances demonising, vilifying and ridiculing the Government of Zimbabwe. Among the litany of such interviews was in August 2005 when he told Kenny White, a Voice of America reporter, that the Roman Catholic Church had advised the Government to halt Operation Murambatsvina. He took the occasion to attack President Mugabe for being arrogant when he refused to talk to the MDC. The Bishop further said President Mugabe was starving his own people by refusing to accept food pledges from the donor community. He expressed disappointment at the people's reluctance to stage a mass coup of the Government.
On 26 August 2004, Bishop Ncube was interviewed by Suzy Hodges of African Radio, Italy. During the interview, Bishop Ncube applauded the MDC for threatening to boycott the 2005 Parliamentary elections saying the political landscape in Zimbabwe favoured Zanu-PF, a party he said was harassing the opposition through the Public Order and Security Act and the State media. He described the voters' roll as being in a shambles with 800 000 names of dead persons. He said corruption in Zanu-PF had ruined a once sound economy. Turning to the international community, Bishop Ncube chastised the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) for failing to stand against Zimbabwe.
Between 18 and 25 July 2004, Bishop Ncube visited Britain to attend the launch of the Legal Defence Aid Fund meant to assist victims of political violence. During this visit, Bishop Ncube met Prince Charles but the meeting was not covered by the media, which feared that any publicity would dent the ostensible neutrality of the British Monarchy. Again Bishop Ncube lied to Prince Charles that Zanu-PF was starving MDC supporters by denying them food handouts. He attached the Non-Governmental Organisations Bill as draconian. From Britain, Bishop Ncube went to Germany where he linked up with the Desideria family.
Bishop Ncube's actions must have really incensed President Mugabe who took a bold swipe at him on 21 August 2004 during the inauguration of Robert Christopher Ndlovu as Archbishop of Harare Diocese. President Mugabe criticised Bishop Ncube for taking internal issues to former colonisers of the country yet the Zimbabwean leader had an open door policy. The President said Bishop Ncube had kept him waiting the whole of the other day after an appointment. On the contrary, the Bishop would not miss a meeting with the British Monarchy.
Not that missing an appointment with the President is inconceivable, but what is surprising is that Bishop Ncube did not give an excuse before and thereafter, an indication of how he despises the State President. By giving prominence to his meetings with Prince Charles, Bishop Ncube is misdirecting himself by expecting salvation from the British Monarchy.
He should not lose sight of the fact that it was the same monarchy that signed the Charter in 1890 to colonise Zimbabwe, the first document in Zimbabwe's constitutional history.
Since he was ordained as the Archbishop of the Bulawayo Diocese on 25 January 1998, Ncube heightened his involvement in politics. He was instrumental in compiling the Catholic Commission on Justice of Peace report alleging Government brutality in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces in the 1980s, calling for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission.
Bishop Ncube facilitated the compilation of a Panorama, a British Broadcasting Corporation documentary on alleged human rights violations in Zimbabwe. His propensity to foment tribal hatred is fresh in the minds of many. In August 2003, he introduced the infamous language policy in the Bulawayo Diocese, decreeing that all sermons be in Ndebele, and English in some situations.
This led to hostilities between the Ndebele and Shona followers resulting in violent clashed on 13 August 2003 at St Patrick's Church in Makokoba. Notwithstanding that there are more Shonas in Bulawayo than whites, Bishop Ncube chose to put English ahead.
This is the track record of the notorious Bishop whose name has destroyed the reputation of the Catholic Church, which now must act or risk being viewed as showing complicity through non-action.
Bishop Ncube has thrown away the standing doctrine that the State and the Church are separate institutions with separate roles. The role of the State is to provide for the temporal or mundane or secular needs of the people while that of the Church is to provide for the spiritual needs of man.
Bishop Ncube should now remove his religious cloak and put on a political jacket. At the moment, he is wearing both with the Church garment inside.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2006 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
