wfn.org | Church Council Urges Zimbabwe Government to Listen to Protesters

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

12-March-1998 
98084 
 
    Church Council Urges Zimbabwe Government 
    to Listen to Protesters 
 
    by Eunice Mafundikwa 
    Ecumenical News International 
 
HARARE-The recent spate of disturbances in Zimbabwe, particularly in 
Harare, over the deteriorating economic situation, are a source of worry, 
according to the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), which is hosting the 
World Council of Churches (WCC)'s Eighth Assembly in December. 
 
    More than 4,000 participants are expected at the WCC gathering, which 
is held every seven years. Planning has been under way since 1994, when 
Harare was chosen as the location for the Assembly, which will have special 
significance because the WCC is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its 
founding. 
 
    ZCC's general secretary, Densen Mafinyane, told a recent meeting of 
civic leaders and government officials on March 2 that the disturbances 
were "badly" affecting the preparations for the Assembly, including booking 
accommodation, food, security, telecommunications and banking facilities. 
 
    But Mafinyane said he was optimistic the country would be "peaceful" by 
December, provided the government opened itself up to dialogue with 
aggrieved parties. 
 
    "All the people want is for the government to be sensitive to their 
needs," he said.  "I am sure that with dialogue amicable solutions would be 
found.  At least the problems are not of a political nature, and that means 
that they are fairly easy to deal with."  He added that despite recent 
disturbances Harare was still safe. 
 
    Most urban centers in Zimbabwe closed for business on March 3 as 
workers responded to a recommendation from the country's main labor 
organization, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), to stay at home 
for two days in protest against government taxes and rising food prices. 
 
    In Harare less than 40 percent of workers went to their jobs March 3. 
Most of them chose to ignore an 11th-hour appeal by the government for 
everyone to work as usual.  Many businesses, including banks and department 
stores, closed for the day.  Those that had opened were forced to close at 
midday because of poor business. 
 
    Heavily armed riot police patrolled the city center and Harare's 
suburbs. 
 
    Earlier this year the ZCTU called on the government to scrap - by Feb. 
27 - the 2.5 percent sales tax increase, which took effect in December, and 
a development levy, which was initially imposed on all workers as a drought 
levy in April 1995. The labor movement is also pressing for the scrapping 
of the 15 percent tax on pensions.  The ZCTU promised to take action if the 
government did not address these demands. 
 
    The government has now threatened the ZCTU leadership with undefined 
"drastic and punitive measures."  When the first day of the "stay-away" was 
widely seen as successful, the threats by the government were broadened to 
include civil servants who did not report for work and employers who closed 
their businesses. The stay-away continued March 4, though life seemed to be 
returning to normal in Harare. 
 
    The two-day mass stay-away comes hard on the heels of January's food 
riots during which property worth millions of dollars was destroyed or 
looted.   Four people died during the riots, which erupted in Harare and 
later spread to other towns and cities. The protests followed rises of 50 
percent or more in the price of  many basic commodities. 
 
    Unlike last month's unrest, the stay-away was peaceful. 
 
    Because of the social unrest, the Organization of African Unity 
recently changed its plans to hold a high-level meeting on peace-keeping in 
Harare after some African leaders said they had doubts about the safety of 
the venue. 
 
    According to press reports, the Washington-based International Policy 
Council on Agriculture (IPC) has also canceled a major conference in Harare 
on the impact of globalization on African agriculture.   The meeting, 
scheduled for April, would have brought more than 150 international 
agricultural experts to Zimbabwe's capital.  "The recent strikes and social 
unrest have painted a picture of political instability and concern to those 
who would have funded and attended the meeting," IPC's executive director, 
Peter Lacy, told a newspaper in Zimbabwe. 
 
    The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, an umbrella body representing 
more than two million Christians from 160 churches and organizations, has 
condemned the stay-away. 

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