Zimbabwe: many churches have done nothing

Bishop Levee Kadenge. Photo: ©Peter Kenny / ENI

Zimbabwe bishop says many churches have done nothing for people
Peter Kenny

Zimbabwe Advocacy in Geneva

The leader of Zimbabwe's largest functioning alliance of Christians says the country's main grouping of traditional Protestant churches and the African and global umbrella church organizations with which it is affiliated have been notable for their silence on what is happening in his country.

"The Zimbabwe Council of Churches has done nothing. The churches should have been speaking without fear of favour, just speaking on behalf of suffering masses of Zimbabwe. Their absenteeism is so pronounced," said Methodist Bishop Levee Kadenge, the convenor of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance.
...
The bishop, who has been detained without trial five times by security
officials and is scheduled to return home, was asked if he was not afraid to
speak out.

"Yes I fear. God yes, I fear, I am a human being. I'm afraid. That
does not stop me doing what I have to do," Kadenge told ENI. "That is the
difference. If I say I'm not afraid, I'm dead. But I'm convinced there is a
bigger force beyond me that takes care of those things."

Still he said, "Churches at grassroots level are very active and that is why the church
continues to be there. But I don't think that is enough."

All here.

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Meanwhile, if you happen to be in Sweden in a couple of weeks time you can attend a seminar on:

the political future of Zimbabwe after the power-sharing deal

co-organised by the Nordic Africa Institute, Living History Forum and the Swedish Institute for International Affairs.

Leading the seminar will be:
Bishop Sebastian Bakare, Anglican bishop of Harare, recipient of the Per Anger Prize 2008
Amanda Hammar, Zimbabwean researcher, Programme Co-ordinator at the Nordic Africa Institute
Anders Möllander, Former Swedish Ambassador to South Africa
Moderator: Jan Joel Andersson, Programme Director at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs

The seminar will be at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Drottning Kristinas väg 37, Stockholm. Please contact the Institute in advance to confirm your attendance. E-mail: programverksamhet@ui.se or tel. 08-511 768 14

All here.