Bishops in Zimbabwe Support “3-week Lockdown” Over COVID-19, Want More Preventive Measures

Reflecting on the status of their country 40 years after independence, the Bishops have noted the need to mend differences among Zimbabweans and realize peaceful co-existence saying, “There is hunger for reconciliation and addressing the past hurts and injustices.”

In their collective statement, the Church leaders argue that while the establishment of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) “gives hope to promote healing and reconciliation” in the country, the commission is yet to “be fully operationalized.”

The lack of clarity when NPRC’s mandate will expire is a matter of concern for the Bishops in Zimbabwe, a situation that compromises the credibility of the commission.

“We appeal to our government to ensure that all the laws are aligned with the constitution and constitutionalism becomes the lifeblood of the governance architecture,” the Bishops have urged in reference to the attempted amendment of the 2013 constitution, which they say “has not yet been fully implemented.”

Other issues that the Bishops have highlighted in their collective pastoral letter include corruption, international isolation, collapsing infrastructure, emigration and the gradual economic recession, that has led to “closing of industries and companies, foreign investor flight, job losses, and the decline of  agricultural productivity, leading to escalation in poverty levels.”

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On the way forward, the Church leaders have alluded to the Israelites forty-year journey to the Promised Land saying, “We can do ourselves a favour and shorten the journey with more political will and turn the potential that Zimbabwe has into reality.”

“Now is the favourable time for restoring our nation through rebuilding good social, health, education, economic and political structures,” the Bishops have stated and added, “We need to repent from bad governance, corruption and violence among other things.”

The Prelates have also expressed their hopes that the ten years to the country’s jubilee celebration in 2030 will be “a period of re-aligning everything to the original vision of our independence.”

Formerly known as Southern Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, a former British colony, gained independence on April 18, 1980.

Celebrations for the country’s 40^th anniversary of Independence had been scheduled to take place on April 18. However, considering the restrictions put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, President Emmerson Mnangagwa postponed the event to a later date.