Visit to Zimbabwe & Methodist Church of Southern Africa

Visit to MC Zimbabwe and MC Southern Africa 25.7-10.8.04(final edit October 2004)Roy Crowder, Africa Area Secretary, Methodist Church in BritainI visited MC Zimbabwe between Monday 26 th July and Friday 6 th Augustmeeting a broad range of people and views.1 Worship and pastoral lifeI encountered the worshipping life of the church in several ways. On the firstSunday I attended a Harare West District Thanksgiving Day held in theNational City Sports Centre. About fifteen hundred worshippers gathered fora four-hour worship event, a majority dressed in the uniforms of Women’sManyano or Men’s Christian Union (MCU). It featured much singing andpraying, many speeches and concluded with a meal. There were severalchoirs including most notably a joint Methodist / Vapostori (Apostolic) one;the youth in the congregation danced most enthusiastically to this one’smusic. The Revd A Phebeni of Kadoma, Synod Secretary from Kwe Kwe andclearly one of the star preachers of the connexion, preached a vigorous andengaging sermon. The guest of honour was the Honourable Webster ShamuMP, Minister for Policy Implementation, an old boy of Tegwani School andprominent member of the church; his wife in Manyano uniform joined him onthe podium.The event was the culmination of a process of development and appreciationof the clergy’s leadership throughout the District starting at congregationallevel, which had been initiated by the District Bishop, the Revd LeveeKadenge, during his first year of office. A lay committee had done all theplanning including organising the fund raising for the purchase of a Districtvehicle, a focus of celebration on this day. Just one month’s tithing in theDistrict had almost completed the purchase and final collections on the daywere to clear the remainder. This was a remarkable achievement given thegeneral state of the economy, of people’s incomes and the high rate ofinflation (about 400%) as well as the difficulty of accessing foreign currencyfor such imports. Several people commented to me during my stay abouthow impressively the whole process had included people, especially laypeople, in the planning and how widely the purpose of support for clergy intheir work was owned by the membership.On two occasions I joined the hour-long weekly morning devotions in theConference Office, attended by all those working in the Office and also bysome workers from neighbouring offices. At the first of these the PresidingBishop Designate, the Revd Dr Charles Mugaviri, preached. He spoke aboutthe need for peacemaking with charismatic eloquence, issuing the challenge,‘We need to be peace veterans!’ In the context of Zimbabwe’s struggle overland and political control and the role of ‘war veterans’ this was a bold andimaginative call. On the second occasion I was invited to speak and I shared1

with this leadership corps some of the work of MC Kenya with disability issuesand MC Southern Africa with children’s ministries. People appreciatedinformation on the experiences of neighbouring churches which offerstimulating challenges to those engaged in similar work in Zimbabwe. Thisreaction underlined for me yet again the importance of stimulating contactand exchange of experience between our African partner churches. It seemsespecially necessary at the level of programme directors who have little timeor budget for regional travel but who are tackling very similar issues in theirrespective countries.While enjoying the extraordinary hospitality of the Presiding Bishop’s house Inoted his punishing timetable of pastoral activity as well as administration. Iwas privileged to join in some of these meetings. I attended an eveningfellowship meeting of the Southerton Society in the Highfields Circuit. Thisproved to be a small but vigorous congregation worshipping in a woodenstructure, closed in on three sides, in the small yard of a layperson’s house inan industrial suburb of Harare. This is the congregation in which thePresiding Bishop and his wife have membership, an encouraging support to asmall but growing society seeking to build their own building. We held afellowship meeting of prayer, singing and biblical reflection. Forty to fiftyadults and children were present.On another occasion a dozen members of one of the Greencroftcongregation’s class meetings came to the Bishop’s house for a devotionalfellowship. The congregation is building a large church on the plotimmediately next door to the Bishop’s residence and we inspected progresson the foundations. The next evening we joined a family from this classmeeting in an evening meal followed by prayers. The spontaneity andenthusiasm of devotion in these family sessions is very notable.When in Bulawayo I attended an early morning prayer meeting. This was aweekly ecumenical gathering in the chapel of a suburban Anglican Church. Adozen or so white professional men and women and a black anaesthetistshared a liturgy of prayer and biblical reflection. Several of them were facingdirect pressures from the political, economic and legal situation in thecountry. These included Government pressure over the setting of fees in theindependent schools and court action over foreign exchange dealings due todraconian Government action to control forex flows. They prayed for thestate of the nation and for the particular situations of individuals.These were encounters with a way of life filled every day, indeed every hour,with public prayer and devotion. It is true of all the African partner churcheswhich I visit and was particularly true of my visit to Zimbabwe this time. Itcontrasts strongly with the more private, marginal and minority-based,though no less devoted, experience of religious life in Britain.2

2 Church life and organisationAs the Harare West District event demonstrated the church in Zimbabwe isvigorous; it is also clearly growing. Congregational life is strong. A youngpre-collegiate minister serving in a Harare circuit told me that his suburbanchurch has three Sunday morning services with 200 attending the 6.30amservice, 400 at 9.00am (which is an entirely children’s service) and 800 at11.00am. There is a class meeting on a Tuesday evening attended by 120.He was thinking about ways of training local preachers to lead effectiveworship for a service like the 9.00am which such a large number of children.The Conference agenda included a proposal to create a new District again thisyear to accommodate the growth that this story shows. The church isreorganising not only for growth but also to function more effectively inservice delivery. Another key item on the Conference agenda was thereorganisation of the connexional offices into four departments: Mission,Finance, Relief and Development Project Management and Relief andDevelopment Fund Raising. Interviews for the Head of the MissionDepartment were conducted while I was visiting. A new Head of Finance hadjust been appointed. This partly arose from the need to prioritise moreeffectively the work of a large number of committees which sometimesoverlapped and competed. It also arose from the need to channel theresources of the church more effectively for its development and relief workand to access more resources from outside the church to address theseneeds.Alongside this in the last few years has been the development of the physicalplant at connexional level. The connexional offices are now housed in an airywell-lit, three-storey office block with ample room and good modernfurnishings. This is just around the corner from the former offices which havebeen taken over in part by the Harare Bishops. The Presiding Bishop alsolives in an extensive modern house which can be used for meetings and hasgood accommodation for visitors.These developments of organisation and plant are all important and positive.They are also very demanding. The increase in membership and in districtsand circuits in recent years has left people and resources very stretched.Hardly any circuits have more than one full time ordained minister; some alsohave a pre-collegiate or fourth year college student; often the only otherminister is a Bishop, a supernumerary or a full time chaplain (eg police);many of these lone ministers have chaplaincy roles in large educationalinstitutions. Many superintendents are also very inexperienced; most DistrictBishops are under forty years of age. The circuits are large. A minority have8 or 9 stations; then there are circuits with 18 or 20, those with 25 or 28, andthose with around 35; a few have more than 70.The reorganisation is complex and will take time to work through and bethoroughly implemented and understood. The commitment to the3

development of plant has also been very expensive. This year at Conferenceit was necessary to demand an additional assessment to cover connexionalcosts. So these positive developments are costly in financial and other terms.3 Departmental workI met with several department heads to discuss the issues in their areas ofresponsibility.3.1 Stewardship and DevelopmentMr Clever Tabaziba has been Director of Stewardship and Development formany years. The concept of stewardship of the Zimbabwean church underhis leadership now encompasses a strong sense of development. It grewfrom the conventional view of stewardship as a personal response of churchmembers to their own circumstances, possessions, skills, time etc. In theZimbabwean context the growth of the church, the poverty of most membersand the need for rural development means that other strands of thinking havegrown. The needs of families have led to a focus on developing talents forgrowth of both the church and the community as a whole. Work has beendone on issues of family life as well as agricultural development. A concernfor stewardship of creation has also influenced a concern for environmentalprotection in the midst of agricultural development. Three booklets on thesethemes have been prepared for study and reflection.Mr Tabaziba works with a Development Officer, Mr Careful Chikomba. Thewalls of their office are covered with photographs of work on projects. Onesection contains pictures of joint work with young people from SaltashMethodist Church on constructing rainwater-harvesting cisterns in distant andarid regions. Another project they support is the development of ruralschools in very isolated areas. Some villagers on the northern borders of thecountry living on the Zambezi escarpment are working with the church toconstruct a school for their community’s children. At the moment schoolchildren as young as nine and ten have to walk more than 15 kms to school.They typically leave home at about 5.30am and arrive back at 7.00pm. Theystill have to complete homework and it is particularly hard for girls who havealso to do housework. Some children build small huts alongside the schooland sleep over during the week. Work with the Methodist Church to completeschool buildings, which the parents have already begun, will radically reducethe time spent walking.The Church’s restructuring plans involve creating a new departmentconcerned with Relief and Development which Mr Tabaziba will direct. Aparticular responsibility will be to source funding for various projects.Stewardship and Development managed the distribution of the relief grantsfrom MCB in recent years.4

Historically MCZ has supported spiritual and social development to localcommunities. The social development has directed development andemergency relief to needy communities regardless of their ethnicity, politicaland/or religious affiliation. This work ranges from mission schools and healthcentres to orphanages; food security and income generating to water andsanitation projects; and from HIV/AIDS training, advocacy and lobbying, toyouth women and gender training. The work has generally been donethrough the main structures of the church. No specific person or office hashad this responsibility.The reorganisation will enable the Church to be much more rapidly proactivein this area. The new Relief and Development Agency will seek supportingfinance for other departments and for projects of other structures of thechurch. It will not compete with them in project management but will alsooffer technical support. An example of this colleagueship would be supportoffered to the HIV/AIDS programme.3.2 HIV/AIDSMrs Edith Mpandaguta is connexional HIV-AIDS Co-ordinator. Her role is todevelop HIV awareness throughout the church. She is the only full time coordinator;there are part time or voluntary co-ordinators in districts. A largenumber of workshops have been run with district leadership, youth leaders,peer educators, connexional staff, missioners and others who have aneffective link with infected or affected people. MCZ is currently working on apilot programme for faith-based organisations with support from the USCentre for Disease Control and works closely with the Zimbabwe ChurchesAgainst AIDS Forum. MCZ develops a system of care and support usingvoluntary Care Givers in the community who are provided with health packs.MCB is supporting them currently in translating advice pamphlets intoindigenous languages.They also work with Matthew Rusike Children’s home to develop responses tothe situations of orphans and child headed households. A survey beingconducted by Scripture Union in urban schools in Chitungwisa, a large urbandevelopment on the outskirts of Harare, is uncovering a 30% rate of doubleorphans in the classes interviewed so far. Mrs Mpandaguta is working closelywith Matthew Rusike Children’s Home and others in the church to developanother orphan facility at the Mzinyathi mission station south of Bulawayo.3.3 Youth Department - Acting Youth Co-ordinator Revd Dr Charles MugaviriCharles Mugaviri has a great deal of youth work experience. He was YouthCo-ordinator in the connexion for an earlier period before becoming Chaplainto the University and subsequently being appointed by the University as Deanof Students. Secondary and tertiary educational institutions in Zimbabwe arebrimming with young people who are enthusiastic about their faith and whohave many challenges to face. Mugaviri sees this as an important opportunityfor the Methodist Church to grasp, a strategic investment in the futurechurch, and he is launching a student organisation to cater for these young5

people, MESMO, Methodist Student Movement. World Church Office issupporting the launch conference with a grant.In particular, Mugaviri argues, young people need materials to nurture theirfaith and there are few resources available to help them interpret themeaning of the Bible for their contemporary lives. One example, whichMugaviri analysed, concerns relationships between the sexes. The country forexample has 65% of its population below the age of 35 and they are the mostvulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Yet the messages young people receive about thisfocus on such issues as whether or not to wear condoms. Ironically then thewhole debate, which is intended to induce safety, reduces young people tosex objects as issues about relationships are bypassed in the rush to dealingwith the sexual act. Crude choices are offered: do it or don’t do it; do it withor without a condom. But the whole depth of relationship forming has beenlost in the process. All the anxieties, joys and questions, which young peoplebring to this stage of their lives, are ignored. Resources which could helpyoung people engage with their relationships at this deeper level and within aChristian understanding are sorely needed.Another set of challenges facing youth concern their participation in society.At the most basic level they face difficulties addressing questions about careerchoices when economic circumstances are so dire. But their prospects arealso diminished in a broader sense. The overwhelming ethic from whichleading figures in society draw authority for their participation revolvesaround what they did in the liberation struggle. I saw and heard this at firsthand during my stay. It was particularly strong then because Monday 7 th andTuesday 8 th August were Heroes Day and Defence Forces Day public holidays.There was a big build up in the media with constant references and old moviefootage from the independence war. Ironically I heard this kind of referencemost directly in conversation when I met an opposition MP. He recounted thechallenges he could make to government ministers on the floor of the housebecause of his direct involvement in the bush war.But all this jousting about records from a struggle more than twenty yearsago excludes young people entirely. They then have no basis for establishingtheir own authority for participation in society if someone with a war recordcan always trump it. It diminishes debate about what things constituteappropriate ethical bases for participation in society. Of course thegovernment projects the current conflict as a continuation of this samestruggle; if the late nineteenth century resistance to white settlers was thefirst chimurenga and the fight for independence was the second chimurenga,then this current struggle over land and governance is projected as the thirdchimurenga. Indeed this is presented as a vanguard struggle on behalf of thewhole third world against renewed Western imperialism, ‘Bush and hisprophet Blair’. This pan-African (and broader) leadership role is surprisinglysuccessful as President Mugabe’s September speech to the United Nationsdemonstrated as does the rapturous popular reception he receives in SouthAfrica at public events. It is one key component in the difficulties which the6

Mbeki government faces in dealing with his criticisms that they have sold out,with their neo-liberal economic policies, to Western domination and also failedto address the land question in their own society.The state has created what is called a national youth service trainingprogramme ostensibly to provide a sorely needed route into useful skills andpatriotic values but there are profound criticisms of how its actual role hasbeen the management of political thuggery on behalf of ZANU PF at electiontimes with allegations of serious human rights abuses within the brigadesincluding extensive abuse and rape of young women. These have beenreported in the detailed September 2003 Solidarity Peace Trust document onyouth militias.The Methodist Church and other churches obviously have severe challengesahead of them in addressing the concerns of young people.3.4 Education DepartmentThis is particularly true in the Education Department. I met with theEducation Secretary, Mr Lazarus Jumo, and his finance colleagues: MrsColleen Zhuwao, assistant accountant; and Geshen Tsvangirai, internalauditor.The Methodist secondary boarding schools are enormously valuableinstitutions which have provided high quality education for young leaderscorps in Zimbabwe in the past and continue to do so. Although their storieshave not hit the Western media they too are struggling with the price controlstrategy which the government is imposing on schools outside the publicsector. One or two are struggling at the very borderline of viability on thecurrent maximum fees they are allowed to charge. So far none have goneunder. It is fortunate that a detailed centralised payments and accountingsystem is run from the Connexional offices so that good controls and financialexpertise are available to the schools at this difficult time.There are some positive aspects to report. A school in Matabeleland Northhas just had approval from the Education Department to upgrade theexamination courses it can offer, thereby providing a better service in thatarea. World Church Office is supporting the purchase of computers from aBritish reconditioning charity for computer education in another school. TheOffice is also discussing a grant to complete a community primary school inthe far north west which will save village children walking up to thirtykilometres a day for their education.3.5 Matthew Rusike Children’s Home (MRCH), Director Astonishment MapurisaAnother area of critical response to the needs of children and young people isMRCH. This long-standing service provision for orphaned children has alsoworked in partnership with NCH over many years. Out of this has grown animaginative new partnership between NCH, WCO, MCZ and MCSA (The7

Methodist Church of Southern Africa) to enhance church related childcareprovision throughout the region.In the case of MRCH the most important immediate tasks have been thespeedy implementation of a long prepared plan to move from a dormitory tohousehold pattern of living. This sounds first of all like an architecturalchange. But on my visit it was very clearly apparent that this brings in train aprofound change in childcare quality. It is true that most obviously thebuildings have changed. One unit of two households is fully functioning,another unit is nearly complete, a third is about to be built, then olddormitory buildings will be refurbished for household living. Thesedevelopments in themselves are a tribute to the energy and management skillof Mapurisa as well as of the strategic support of Barry Barnes of NCH sinceproblems with building contracts and inflating costs have been very great.What was most apparent when visiting the houses with the Vice Principalhowever was that the relationships between children and care workers hadbeen transformed by the intimate responsibility they now have for each otherand for looking after their living space. This is very different from the distantrota style of monitoring which went on in the old system. There has clearlyalso been a very impressive training and job evaluation process which hasmade all these expectations explicit and accepted.Another new development has been the opening of a crèche for pre-schoolchildren which will allow their older siblings to attend school themselvesbecause they have become the heads of households. The rate of childheaded households resulting from parent deaths was referred to in theHIV/AIDS section above. Older children can then become even moredisadvantaged by becoming excluded from school themselves because oftheir care responsibilities. This is a creative response which illustrates themulti-dimensional character of the HIV/AIDS challenge. WCO together withNCH has invested substantially over the last decade in this programme and itremains for us one of the highest priorities.A third new development, again referred to above, is the extension of childcare services more widely throughout the connexion. However goodinstitutions such as MRCH are they cannot possibly address the extent of thedemand for childcare in the sub-region.4 Visit to BulawayoI visited Bulawayo for three days to see Graham and Sandie Shaw. It wasparticularly valuable to spend extended time with Graham and get a good feelfor the range of work in which he is involved. He also arranged meetingswhich helped me have very informative conversations with a range of people.8

One main meeting involved the Bishop of the Bulawayo District, the RevdJosias Mudenda, the Synod Secretary, the Revd Obert Shatai, the Vice-Chairperson Mrs Makuyana and the children’s and human rights activist MrsSheba Dube. We discussed work going on in the District. They were alsovery interested in the key issues and priorities facing MC in Britain and askedabout partnership issues with MCB. I was also able to discuss work withchildren, especially HIV / AIDS infected and affected children. I also metdoctors involved with counselling and treating those subjected to torture andbeatings and obtained an assessment of the current state of victims. Thesurgery had been moved recently because of fear of youth brigade attacks. Imet the father of one young man who had been badly beaten up and wasonly just coming out of hospital.4.1 Archbishop Pius NcubeI also had the privilege of meeting of Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncubefor the second time within a week having also attended a meeting headdressed in London. He is under continual attack from the government. Anedition that week of the Herald newspaper, a government / party mouthpiece,contained a cartoon with crudely drawn pictures of Bishop Muzorewa whocollaborated with the Smith regime in the late 70s, Archbishop Tutu, undersevere attack for his criticism of ZANU/PF, and Ncube. The clear point wasthat all three are collaborators with Western interests.Skilful use is made of propaganda opportunities to reinforce this message.Robert Mugabe’s speech at the United Nations in September positionedhimself as a defender of third world interests against the dominant worldsuperpower which indulges in regime change at will. British Premier TonyBlair’s assertion in the House of Commons in August that he is working theZimbabwean opposition gave golden ammunition for propaganda attackagainst Britain and the MDC opposition both within Zimbabwe andinternationally. At the UN Mugabe accused Britain of seeking regime changethrough this support for MDC. This line of argument is delivered withsophistication and conviction and proves very popular in the sub-region andmore widely. The general election expected in March 2005 is already calledthe anti-Blair election.One important outcome of meetings with Archbishop Pius was informationabout the Zimbabwe Defence and Aid Fund which was launched in London inJuly to raise funds for legal expenses of those arrested under draconian lawsagainst protest and those whose human rights are abused in the legalprocess. World Church Office has approved a grant to ZDAF.4.2 SADC electoral guidelinesAnother important outcome was the request for international lobbying on theapplication of the SADC election guidelines. The Southern AfricanDevelopment Community had just debated a damning report on Zimbabweanhuman rights abuses which was just percolating into the country at the timeof my visit. SADC had also agreed regional criteria for effective elections and9

there is a struggle over their implementation in the country. All sides agreethem but the issues revolve around how far the implementation of them bygovernment will actually allow for free and fair elections.A principal issue in the run up to March 2005 elections is how far democraticprocess will be possible under the draconian control of the POSA public orderbill and the new NGO bill which is passing through parliament in earlyOctober. The NGO bill also has implications for churches as it seeks to bringunder government control though the registration process all human rightsand governance related work. It will be interesting to see how churchesrespond to this. The Roman Catholic Church has important institutionalinterests at stake here with it’s Justice and Peace Commission and SilveiraHouse which will be directly affected and their Bishops seem to be preparingto take a strong stand.Again government deploys skilful argument to justify control of NGOs. Iheard TV footage of information minister Moyo discussing in a very informedand rational manner the issue of balance of power and influence betweenNGOs and governments which is a major issue in all third world countrieswhose economies are significantly affected by NGO inflows.4.3 MDC electoral strategyIt was therefore very interesting also to meet in Bulawayo a district chairmanof MDC in a Midlands area, a welfare officer for MDC, and an MP (see section6.1). The chairman gave a very interesting account of his attempts to buildthe party in order to face the 2005 election in his rural area. He describedhow MDC was a ‘magic word’ in 2000 and 2001 when it became a key focusfor popular discontent and obtained nearly half of the popular elected MPs.This meant it had achieved electoral success without any effectiveorganisational structure at the grass roots. He felt this was a criticalweakness now. It was inadequate to field high profile urban candidates.Organisation had to be built up from the ground to create an organisationaland policy base. He therefore strongly advocated working consistently on anelection strategy and only boycotting in the final stages if the leadership feltimpelled to take that decision. Since then the MDC are reported as havingannounced a boycott already. This may have given some advantage in theirmanoeuvring with ZANU PF over SADC guideline implementation. But it willhave taken away the impetus which this man argued was essential forbuilding any credible opposition force.The visit around the townships of Bulawayo with the welfare officer enabledme to meet a family affected by political violence and gave insight to thedisposition of key groups in an election campaign such as veterans and youthbrigade. He also showed how food distribution was organised in order toinfluence voting.10

4.4 sense of apocalypseMy visit to Bulawayo gave me the sense of a different atmosphere from thatwhich I encountered around Harare and Mashonaland West. In most of myvisit I encountered people who were focused on surviving in their personallives and in their work. There was a sense of resignation, embarrassmentabout the state of the country, concentration on doing what was positive andpossible within increasingly severe restraints.In Bulawayo I felt a more apocalyptic sense. I met with both mainly whiteand mainly black groups. This apocalyptic sense was present in both butdifferently. I met white people who seemed to be under extreme pressure inwhich the last of their resources was being squeezed out. Legal andadministrative action was targeting the businesses and schools they wereinvolved in irrespective of the fact that black people were now the principalbeneficiaries of both because the white population is so small, perhaps30,000, one tenth of the figure in the late 70s. It was reported that youthshave already been seen wearing tee shirts with the message ‘all whites out by2006’.The dominant impression left in meetings with black people on the other handwas of the ghosts of the ‘gukurahundi’. This Shona word means the wind orwhirl wind that comes after harvest and blows away the chaff. It was used torefer to the military action of the Korean trained Fifth Brigade in Matabelelandand parts of the Midlands in the early 80s. This was a time when apartheidSouth Africa was destabilising surrounding countries. RSA supported theRhodesian created Renamo movement engaged in atrocities in NorthernMozambique. The South African Defence Force was invading Angola whiledenying it and supporting Jonas Savimbi’s rebel military action. ZANU wasmoving to swallow ZAPU into a single party. Former ZIPRA guerrillas weredisaffected. How far South Africa was involved in destabilisation is not welldocumented. Some Truth Commission witnesses have admitted involvement.But a fearsome attack was made on the region by the Zimbabwe governmentresulting in thousands of appalling atrocities. Reports speak of between10,000 and 20,000 deaths. One person pointed out that this was a greaternumber than had been identified as killed by the apartheid regime in thereport of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and yet it had drawn somuch less international concern.People talked to me throughout my visit about new stories of these atrocities.It was as though the events were in the recent past when they are twentyyears back in history. This is clearly a very serious matter for nationalreconciliation. Little will be able to move forward in relations between thisregion and the rest of the country until that is acknowledged. Meanwhile verylittle repressive action, an apparently small number of beaten or torturedpeople, is needed to generate profound fear.11

5 Ecumenical contacts: Zimbabwe CC; Ecumenical Support ServicesMeetings with two ecumenical organisations in Harare enabled me to reach alittle beyond the Methodist fold. Interestingly, and a good sign for Methodistcommitment to ecumenical work, the individuals I met were members of TheMethodist Church.5.1 Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Mr Denzen MafinyaniZimbabwe Council of Churches is the largest and longest establishedecumenical council in the country. There is also a meeting of the heads ofchurches which includes for example Roman Catholic leaders who are notincluded in ZCC. The Zimbabwe National Pastors’ Conference is mentioned inmore detail below. There is also a grouping of Evangelical and Pentecostalleaders. Altogether this generates a quite complex and changing ecumenicalscene.ZCC has been involved in seeking to foster negotiations between politicalparties in the current crisis but there has been considerable controversy aboutthe effectiveness of this role at several levels. A troika of ZCC leaders, BpSebastian Bakare, Rev Trevor Manhanga, Bp. Patrick Mutume, led thisinitiative. But reports from ecumenical circles in Zimbabwe conclude that itlacked a reference group in the churches and civil society to provide servicingand media support and it chose to keep its work secret. Little has beenknown of its endeavours except that it appears to have got stuck in the politicsof the ZANU-PF leadership succession while also being seen as supportingthe MDC. Differences within the churches have made finding middle grounddifficult and the government has been able to drag out the process. Meetingshave provided opportunities for all sides to obtain information. Neverthelessthe informal dialogue between the MDC and ZANU-PF continues.I was able to attend some part of the AGM of ZCC during my visit. Theleadership of Council was significantly changed at the elections with BpBakare no longer being its Chairman. My main discussion was with DenzenMafinyani the long standing General Secretary.I seek in the paragraphs below to summarise the meeting carefully in order topresent as faithfully as I can the overall shape of his argument because it isnot widely represented in UK media. It conveys a significant strand of thatresistance to accept a definition of what is happening from outside which is, Ithink, a powerful element within Zimbabwe and a perspective which anypartner church must consider. Any misrepresentation is my responsibility forwhich I apologise. It is also not easy to transfer such a long and extensiveconversation into an entirely coherent sequence of written arguments.The discussion began with reference to difficulties the Presiding Bishop washaving in accessing foreign currency for a visit to Nigeria, which then becamethe starting point for Mafinyani’s analysis of the current situation.12

He remarked on the enormous damage being done to the economy by thebanks which have been ‘externalising’ huge quantities of Zimbabweanfinancial assets, ‘siphoning billions’ into offshore accounts. The extent of thisis being uncovered by the new Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono, whoseenergetic interventions to control finance flows throughout the economy andto slow down inflation were the subject of daily news reports. Several highprofile cases were covered during this period with leading figures ‘runningaway from the country’. Mafinyani also criticised the extent of hoarding andblack market sale of staple goods such as sugar, maize, cooking oil creatingartificial shortages which was also carried out by banks and large privatesector companies. It was these companies rather than government who werethe main cause of the country’s financial madness he argued.From this perspective the situation was beginning to come back under controlcompared with the extreme shortages of staples and fuel about two yearsago, hyper-inflation was beginning to be brought down and Asian countrieswere responding fraternally to the need for agricultural infrastructureredevelopment. [It was noticeable in the news at this time that Mugabe wasat an international conference in Malaysia following up such investment. Thenews reports took prominent notice of the refusal of this body to ejectZimbabwe from its meetings. It was presented as a positive alternative to thepunitive sanctions of the West.]Mafinyani continued that while there was still a need to import maize thisyear, better rainfall had improved the harvest and most people would besupplied much better by local granaries. It was the food issue which wasmost responsible for violence not necessarily political differences, ‘a hungryman is an angry man’. It would not be possible to have a peacefuldemocracy in circumstances of great hunger. So he criticised the Westernmedia coverage as presenting a distorted image of the state of the countryand the reasons. He reported on the great surprise of visiting Ghanaiansrecently who noticed the wide availability of foodstuffs compared to themedia image they had received.There was no anti-white feeling, but a definite anti-Blair feeling because of hispolicies. He was particularly critical of British Labour policy arguing thatprevious Conservative governments in Britain were very knowledgeable aboutthe situation in the country; they understood the nature of compromisewhereas the Labour administration did not have an understanding of thenature of politics in Africa. The country’s population is not homogonouswhich makes democracy a complex growth. Britain can help to nurturedemocracy but its current militancy about sanctions only pushes thegovernment into a harder line. But becoming hard is precisely the skill theylearnt through years of struggle against the Rhodesian regime. It is not truethat ‘targeted sanctions’ only affect those who are named they also have awider impact on ordinary Zimbabweans. The British visa restrictions arecallous and punish individual Zimbabweans.13

He recognized that the problems with the use of early resettlement aid had tobe dealt with. ‘Cake had been sent to the poor, but not all had been eaten bythe poor.’ But this could have been dealt with as a specific issue with adedicated treatment plan. It was not necessary to block all fund transfersand thereby prevent funded land reform from happening at all. Blair shouldlearn how to work with Mugabe. He should take a leaf out of Mandela’s bookwho was able to include Buthelezi in his government, even highly significantlymaking him President when he was out of the country. All of this had adramatic effect on the violence in Natal. You should tell this to Tony Blair.Some of us admired Labour so much, thought them so capable. It is bydialogue not militancy that they could influence for the good in Zimbabwe.But if a foreign country says that it is now working with and funding theopposition to remove a government then the politicians will obviously work forsurvival. Professionals in NGOs have benefited from billions of dollars ofWestern funding. They have fed you with the words they know you want tohear. Yet they equally take advantage of the fast track land policy, evenleading members of MDC.After all the atrocities and killings it was possible to have dialogue at theLancaster House talks and there was give and take. It brought decency andrespect. Now there is antagonism, animosity and public condemnation butthe land issue was inevitable and needs to be dealt with.He used several traditional sayings to characterise his evaluation that theBritish policy was doing more harm than good. ‘Don’t burn the house down toget the wedding ring.’ ‘Find a way to get the snake out of the house withoutburning it down’, including the English idiomatic saying ‘Don’t throw the babyout with the bath water.’Finally he emphasized that the ZCC had a strong position of independencewithin Zimbabwe. Indeed it had started the whole process of talks aboutconstitutional review. The whole debate in the country of which theindependent constitutional review had been a large part had resulted in themassive vote against the government in 2000.Mafinyani’s comments and use of traditional sayings became a sustainedcritique of the ‘Western media’ view of crisis in Zimbabwe from someone whohas worked in Britain and knows the dynamics of this country’s media andpolitics first hand. I felt that I, being perceived as a stereotypical visitingBritish liberal critic, was being presented with a weighty corrective.5.2 Ecumenical Support Services: Mr Jonah Gokova, Bishop Levee Kadenge.ESS has established itself in recent years as a leading ecumenical agencypromoting change and a critique of aspects of church and political life. JonahGokova is Co-ordinator of ESS and Methodist Bishop Kadenge the boardchairman. One of its strategies has been to spawn other organisations. An14

interesting group housed with it is concerned to raise gender issues with men.Called Padere after the name for the traditional men’s meeting place fordiscussion in the village, its concerns include male sexuality and male sexualviolence and also how to enable men to become better able to take child careresponsibilities especially when death of mothers is at such a high level.Another organisation which ESS has enabled is the Zimbabwe NationalPastors’ Conference (ZNPC) which is also concerned to raise consciousnessand develop actions which focus on aspects of the crisis which Zimbabwe isexperiencing in its case amongst ministers in all churches. One imaginativeresponse is the organisation of a Pastoral Visit by members of ZNPC toZimbabwean refugees in South Africa, especially Johannesburg and Durban.This follows on a pastoral visit by Archbishop Pius and Gokova in 2004. Sosignificant was the response to this visit from those who are living in themargins of Johannesburg that ESS decided that a follow up from a broaderconstituency would be of benefit. They plan to ‘create a direct experience ofthe suffering Zimbabweans in that country’ by following in their footsteps ‘forZimbabweans in Exile to share their experiences with the Zimbabwean as wellas the South African Church leaders’. World Church Office is currentlydiscussing with them their need for support.One of the most critical issues all these organisations are responding to is thenew NGO bill currently before Parliament since their work falls directly withinthe areas of the bill’s focus on human rights and governance.6 Observations on the church and the political / economic situationI have spent time in this report giving the feel of congregational life in thechurch as I experienced it and then of the service and organisational concernswhich arise from this devoted religious life. From this perspective it is easierto grasp the challenges which the political life of the country presents theMethodist and other main-line churches. The perspective also helps usunderstand some of the complexities in the responses of the churches.On my visit I encountered a mature, growing church. There is growth ofnumbers, improved facilities, developing organisation, extensive service to thecommunity. There are large numbers of young people. Many of the leadersare young: most district bishops in their mid 30s, many superintendentsstraight out of college. Few are adequately prepared for the organisationaland political challenges of their context. Little if any ministerial training hasfocused on these areas. Only in the past couple of years, for example, has acourse in theology and development been offered. In itself this is animportant initiative and is not available in many theology curricula elsewhere.How then does the church respond to its context?15

When one is sitting in Britain, without the threat of political repression ororganisational marginalisation, then Zimbabwe appears primarily as arelatively clear-cut political issue. The periodic screen and newspaper imageswhich project scenes of disorder into our living rooms tend to ignore the dailysurvival routines of the great majority of people. They also give theimpression of a country which it would be unsafe to visit. Yet in myexperience Harare is still the safest of all the capitals I visit and the only onewhere I would walk around alone quite happily. This observation does notimply any belief that some Zimbabweans are not experiencing severerepression in particular times and places. It merely rounds out the picture.The western media images also do not convey well the dynamics of politicaland economic life, leaving behind a one-dimensional residue in the viewer’smind. It is necessary to build up an adequate picture of the ebb and flow ofpolitical life in the country and build from that an appropriate response fromour situation to the lives of people in churches in Zimbabwe.6.1 meetings with individualsSome examples of people I met illustrate the range of views on the politicaland economic climate current in the church.I met a Government minister who is both a prominent church member, one ofseveral cabinet members belonging to the church, and a loyal supporter ofthe Government’s perspective. Another day I met an opposition MP also withstrong connections in the church. He had lived in the Tegwani area as a boyand worked in the garden of one of our mission partners at Tegwani School inorder to pay his school fees. He had also translated this mission partner’ssermons when he preached to local congregations. The young man joinedthe ZIPRA guerrillas (the armed wing of Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU party). Afterthe war he became a teacher trainer and then in the last few years an MDCMP. He was recently imprisoned on false charges and tortured during hisimprisonment and interrogation.Another evening I met a banker who had just returned from a business trip toSouth Africa which had been almost impossible to arrange because of thestrangulating effect of severe bureaucratic forex controls from the Zimbabweside and anxiety about migration from the South African side which imposeddifficult visa requirements. He criticised in detail the policies which hadproduced the current economic situation and human rights abuses in thecountry. He also pondered over the response of the British government. Theleaders of ZANU PF had been ‘trained’ in the war, he argued; they werespecialists in resistance. Why then did Britain, he wondered, push them intoa corner. What other response than a fight back did the British expect? Howdoes that improve things for the ordinary Zimbabwean?Another church member concerned with development and relief issuescaptured the mood of many I met by saying that they ‘are dealing with agovernment that has all the tactics to remain in power’. He saw the church’s16

ole not to confront that directly but to support and empower those who aredisadvantaged.I met a senior minister who had recently conducted the funeral of ChiefSvosve. His people had initiated the land invasions because of theirfrustration with the slow pace of government land reform. The governmentsent the then Vice President to dissuade them. His efforts failed, the landinvasions continued and eventually fearing their own defeat the governmentswung round and facilitated violent invasions themselves in order to ride thetiger of popular discontent and benefit from it.I met a senior minister who was leading relief work to support those whowere suffering extremes of food shortage and political repression in theMatabeleland and Midlands areas. His views were allied closely to the MDCopposition and he worked very closely with all their organisers.I met a senior Roman Catholic priest who has recently edited a revealing bookof essays on the situation in Zimbabwe which pulls no punches in describingthe current situation. He had lived through the independence war andministered both to white families who were burying dead soldiers and to blackfamilies burying dead guerrillas. Having survived the Rhodesian Front regimehis centre is facing closure under the draconian anti-NGO legislation currentlybeing taken through the legislature. He was very clear about the need forinternational solidarity and support. But he recounted the story of TonyBlair’s remarks in the UK Parliament, which happened when I was visiting thecountry. Blair included the remark ‘of course we are working with the MDC inZimbabwe’ in a reply in the House of Commons. This remark became a hugepropaganda coup for the government in Zimbabwe who are insisting that thenext election, probably in March 2005, is the anti-Blair election. Mugabe iseffectively positioning himself as the champion of the oppressed third worldagainst the Blair – Bush new imperialism of neo-liberal economics and militaryregime change. His speech at the United Nations attacking Bush and Blair isa prime example of this in which he argues that ‘the UK is trying to unseathim because it opposes his seizure of land from white farmers forredistribution to blacks.’In the light of this the priest argued ‘It is important for people outside tostand back and not say very much. We have to work this out for ourselves.’He also expressed concern as to how helpful the lionisation in Britain of theArchbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, is to both the Archbishop himself andthe resolution of the conflict in the country.Another Roman Catholic, a lay person, with more than twenty yearsexperience of working on development issues in Zimbabwe and currentlyworking with victims of repression, argued that the most importantinternational solidarity needed to come from ‘people speaking with equivalentauthenticity from the South’.17

6.2 the composition of churches and their leadershipsThe Methodist Church in Zimbabwe and all the other mainline churchescontain within them the full spectrum of political opinions in the country,ranging from those who fully support the government, to those who fullysupport the opposition. Within both government and opposition are wideranges of opinion. The opposition for example contains both former ZIPRAguerrillas such as the MP I met and also international business andcommercial farming interests. In the middle of the spectrum are severalpositions. There are those for example who oppose the government’s abusesof democracy and methods of land reform but who see the reform of landholding as a decisive act of decolonisation.The issue of church response to the political situation is often presented inBritain as a question of weak or inadequate leadership. The word ‘corrupt’has been used in letters to the Methodist Recorder without anyone offeringspecifics. But the behaviour of church leaders is much better explained bylooking at the spread of both popular and elite opinion in the church ratherthan at the personal characteristics of the leaders. Church leaders in most ofthe main line denominations are answerable to broadly democratic structureslocated within Zimbabwe and cannot lead too far too fast withoutundermining their ability to lead at all.Only in the Roman Catholic Church are leaders appointed by a body ultimatelyexternal to Zimbabwe, the Holy See. There is of course discreet localconsultation about appointments but the Holy See is often able to givesignificant independent leadership in conflict situations. Archbishop Piushimself described to me such an intervention in southern Europe. ArchbishopPius Ncube is therefore much more externally accountable in organisationalterms while his organisational base is located in the most oppositional area ofthe country. This allows him to lead so visibly and display such personalintegrity. Even so some of his supporters in Bulawayo I talked to bemoanedthe inadequacy of the support he receives from his clergy and churchstructure. Were he a Methodist, Anglican or Presbyterian or ministering inanother part of the country he would be facing very different pressures. Onemust be careful therefore not to place too high an expectation, simply on thebasis of their expressed personal opinions, on new leaders who are appointedelsewhere. Leadership whiled fuelled by personal attributes is more than theexpression of personal beliefs.Clearly the current Methodist Presiding Bishop, Cephas Mukandi, believes heis expressing in a very clear way his critique of the current situation. Hissermon at the funeral of Mrs Zvogbo at Heroes Acre was interrupted by CIO(security police personnel) and his remarks were cut by the sole national TVbroadcaster.The new Presiding Bishop from December 2004, Charles Mugaviri, is a man ofsubtle and impressive understanding of a range of dynamics in the society.He has extensive support among lay people; he is widely supported by those18

who express great concern about the state of the country. But he has beensubjected to what appears to be a concerted campaign to discredit him in therun up to this year’s Conference. It is the most scurrilous campaign toinfluence a leadership election I have yet encountered and has clearlydamaged his standing. He was briefly imprisoned the week beforeConference and details of the whole leadership conflict have now beenpublished in the independent press. He did not receive majority support fromthe clergy and only succeeded in the final vote by the smallest of margins.He also assumes leadership of a team who are largely of the same age group.He starts from a beleaguered position from which it will take time and muchskill to be able to exert the full authority of his position. The MethodistChurch in Britain must be careful not to say or do things which will underminehim in this delicate position.These attacks appear to have been mainly driven by personal ambition. Ihave heard both clear denials of Political motives but also an assertion thatPolitics was involved. Whatever the mix of motives it is clearly damaging tothe reputation and influence of the churches and would be helpful to anygovernment seeking to mute any criticism from the churches.6.3 the culture of political debate in the churchThere is also the question of the heritage of political debate and contestationwithin the church. While there was considerable clandestine support for thenationalist guerrilla movements from church members in the 70s, includingmany recruits, the public response of the church was much more muted.There has not been the tradition of an indigenous church-based ‘prophetic’movement. The South Africa church, or in fact a romantic view of theposition of SA churches in response to apartheid, is often held up in Britain asa challenge to the churches in Zimbabwe. But this fails to take account of thehistorical trend. Some of this is well expressed in an early paragraph in thethoughtful statement of MCZ of January 2004:On the political arena we have a serious crisis, which is historical. Thestruggle for liberation was mooted and nurtured by churches, particularlymainline churches. Churches supported nationalists and their familymembers spiritually, materially and morally. The struggle had a bearing onthe churches since some socialist anti-religion sentiments were also in play.After independence in 1980, there was a strong political drive to have a onepartystate in Zimbabwe. The church was caught unprepared and no positionwas taken to support or oppose the move. However individual Christiansmade their contributions, some in favour, others against. The one-party statedrive failed but as a nation we have always operated under disguised onepartystate system. It was only when a strong opposition political party wasformed that the whole nation was taken to test. The one-party state salienttraits started to surface.6.4 support and solidarity in MCSAI also visited the leadership of The Methodist Church of Southern Africa aftermy visit to Zimbabwe. They are also concerned to make statements and take19

actions which would be supportive to and not undermine their fellowMethodists. They also find it difficult to learn what will be most helpful andhow best to respect the sensitivity of Zimbabwean organisations about notbeing dictated to by South Africa or Britain.6.5 the stance of MCBThe Methodist Church in Britain has sought to continue a long standing andhighly valued partnership with MCZ with material support for both droughtand stipend relief and for the high quality work with children’s and HIVministry. Grants have also been given to organisations supporting thosesuffering from the suppression of their human rights and to those supportingrefugees in neighbouring countries. The most important aspect of thispartnership however may well be the continued dialogue about the overallsituation. I was able to present the debates which had taken place in BritishMethodism. My hope and request to MCZ, which was reciprocated by therequest for documentation coming from MCZ, is that these will be a stimulusto further debate within the church in Zimbabwe.A key question for MCB is how to assist this process without domineering.20