Donors and the crisis in Zimbabwe: Experiences and lessons learned

Abstract

No one was in doubt as to who the primary addressee was when the African Bishops issued their strong words from the Synod in the Vatican in October 2009. Over the last couple of years the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe has suffered from various kinds of restrictions and threats from the Mugabe regime, all with the purpose of weakening its critical voice against those in power. This is seen as a symptom of the suffering that the majority of Zimbabwean people experience. In their statement, the Synod of Bishops moved beyond the usual request for repentance and went straight to say: quit the arena. They could just as well have used the term "regime change," for that is what they really meant, and that was what the Zimbabwean bishops said outright in a statement a year earlier. "Regardless of whether he is a former ‘liberator’ or an ‘Elder African Statesman,’ he must be forced to step down No solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe is possible as long as he is there."1.