The Zimbabwe catholic Bishops Conference last week released a hard hitting pastoral letter attacking ED Mnangagwa and his leadership style.

The letter was written by  7 Bishops led by the Archbishop of Harare, Robert C Ndlovu who is also the ZCBC President and was released on the 14th of August 2020.

Zimbabwe Bishops Wrote A Hard Hitting Pastoral Letter Aimed At Mnangagwa

Below are the key points in the letter.

Key points

1. There is a crisis in Zimbabwe. Refusal to listen by Mnangagwa has brought us where we are today.

2. Suppression of the people ‘s anger can lead to a deeper crisis.

3. There are unsolved past hurts like Gukurahundi

4. Mnangagwa missed an opportunity presented by President Cyril Ramaphosa’ s Envoys

5. The EU, UN, AU have voiced concern about the crisis in Zimbabwe.

6. Mnangagwa is ruling through fear and many activists are in jail or are on the run.

7. Mnangagwa and his government are engaging in catch and release when it comes to corruption.

8. Mnangagwa is no longer a servant leader, he says the right words but does otherwise.

9. Mnangagwa wants to take Zimbabwe back to the mentality of the war where it was them against us.

10. Mnangagwa has turned the military against the people.

11. The Global Compensation Agreement excludes farm workers.

12. Mnangagwa is driving Zimbabwe in the direction of capitalism in the mistaken belief that it will bring benefits to ordinary people.

13. Mnangagwa lacks the knowledge, skills, emotional stability and social orientation to handle the problem facing Zimbabwe.

14. Mnangagwa is blaming foreigners, detractors, colonialism, settlers and is not taking responsibility for the current crisis.

15. Mnangagwa has shut the door on attempts to engage.

Proposal

The bishops have presented the following  comprehensive National Settlement Framework proposal

1. A victim led process for Gukurahundi

2. A broadly agreed reform process toward constitutionalism and the rule of law

3. A new social contract as the basis for an inclusive national economic vision.

4. An inclusive national economic vision

5. Mending of regional, continental and global relations

These steps are further expanded on in the document, the Zimbabwe we want from 2016

Key weaknesses 

1. The purpose and audience or the letter is unclear.

2. The actions to be taken out of this letter are also unclear. If the Bishops have noted that Mnangagwa is not listening, should they not then take this matter further?

3. The tone of the letter is direct and confrontational and makes fitter engagement between Mnangagwa and the Bishops difficult.

Conclusion

The Bishops should make further efforts to engage Mnangagwa