Too convenient by half - Updated with prayers

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife, Susan, was killed in a car wreck, senior officials with his party told CNN Friday.

Tsvangirai was injured along with an aide and the car's driver in the head-on collision with a large truck, according to Tsvangirai's spokesman, James Maridadi.

The extent of their injuries is not clear.
--CNN

This does not bode well. I am reminded of the "accident" that took the life of Archbishop Luwum in Uganda years ago.

Pray for Mr. Tsvangirai and for the people of Zimbabwe.

UPDATE:
Here are some prayers I found online.

Prayer for the People of Zimbabwe

We pray for the suffering people of Zimbabwe,
Forced to live amid deterioration, disease and despair.
We raise our voices on their behalf,
As truth-tellers we want to proclaim 'This is not good',
It is not how God desires our world to be.
Loving Father, look after the people of that sad but beautiful land,
Care for the little ones,
Comfort the dying ones,
And into this hour of darkness may the light of your new dawn begin to shine.
Amen

Prayer from All Africa Conference of Churches

* Pray for the church in Zimbabwe that it takes its appropriate role in responding to the needs of the people.
* Pray for the formation of a government that will ensure delivery of services to the people of Zimbabwe.
* Pray that the food supplies reach the dying people in remote Zimbabwe and that there be enough food for everybody.
* Pray that medical supplies are made available to all areas of the country and save threatened life.
* Pray that there be unity, tolerance, love and mutual respect among all Zimbabweans regardless of political differences.
* Pray that the Lord may have mercy on Zimbabwe and give enough rains for a good harvest which will result in the restoration of human dignity, respect and recognition.
* Pray that Christians worldwide may be inspired by the Spirit to remain in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe until the end of crisis.
* Pray that the faith of Christians in Zimbabwe may be made stronger by their suffering so that in hope they retain their joy and commitment to Christ.
* Pray that the resources being extracted from Zimbabwe may benefit the whole nation including the poor rather than individuals.
* Pray that God may change the hearts of those who do not put the interests of the people but think of themselves as more important than others.
* Pray that the will of God may be done.

--the BB

Crimes agains humanity - updated with video

A doctor from Johns Hopkins University I interviewed for the story says that the scale of death and human suffering may be greater than Cambodia under Pol Pot, and that international inaction is reminiscent of the the neglect of the Rwandan genocide

You may read more at Episcopal Cafe.

The people of Zimbabwe need deliverance from a power-hungry madman. The world dithers.

UPDATE:
Crooks and Liars has a post on this by Cernig.

Physicians for Human Rights report:

PHR found that the Mugabe government has withheld food aid, seed, and fertilizer to rural provinces in order to starve political opponents; that the regime nationalized and then withheld routine support for municipal water and sewer systems from cities that elected political opponents; that the health care infrastructure and the economy itself is nearing utter collapse; corruption is the rule not the exception; and that the regime brutally silences critics to cover its crimes, profound corruption and incompetence (see report here).

A Sky News video report:



--the BB

You won't learn this on cable news

Episcopal Cafe has a distressing and informative post by Anne Fontaine that shares some of what is going on in Zimbabwe these days. As you know, when something does not fit into the current "news cycle" it fades from public awareness. Zimbabwe is not Gaza or the transition in US administrations or a celebrity misadventure, so we hear nothing about it in the papers or on television.

From Anglican-Information we learn about tidbits such as this:

All eighteen turned out to have been in the hands of state agents during the time they were missing and all have sworn affidavits describing their torture during the period they were illegally held. These have been corroborated by medical evidence. Even the two year old was beaten with his mother.

...

To all the women in Zimbabwe: "Women have figured more prominently in the resistance over the past 10 years and have become increasingly visible. Often they face the police with the bearing and confidence of mothers, grandmothers and older women who deserve traditional respect."

...

The UN Children's Fund [UNICEF] recently stated that school attendance in Zimbabwe has been dropping at an alarming rate [from more than 85 percent in 2007 to just 20 percent by the third term of 2008] because of the collapse of the country's socio-economic system, affecting students and teachers alike, and that few children in Zimbabwe will be returning to class when schools re-open.

So here is a quick round-up for our readers:

S.Africa's Tutu calls for fast in solidarity with Zimbabwe
Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu called Sunday on his fellow South Africans to stage solidarity fasts to support the people of Zimbabwe, who are struggling with poverty and drought.

Tutu, who as archbishop of Cape Town in the 1980s and 1990s waged an outspoken campaign against his country's apartheid regime, called on South Africans to express their solidarity with their northern neighbours.

"If you could have more people saying I'll fast maybe one day a week just to identify myself with my sisters and brothers in Zimbabwe," Tutu, who himself fasts once a week, said on South African radio 702.

International rights group Civicus -- the World Alliance for Citizen Participation -- said it planned to launch a similar campaign within two weeks.

--Africasia.com (1/11/09)


Basildon Peta shares this at Independent Online, South Africa (1/10/09):

Robert Mugabe's wife Grace has allegedly drawn a large sum of foreign exchange from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to bankroll her family holiday in the Far East, despite her country's crippling economic crisis.

At a time when more than 1 700 Zimbabweans have perished from cholera, despite the release of a R300-million relief package from South Africa, authoritative sources say Grace showed no restraint and withdrew US$92 000 (about R890 000) from the central bank to fund her month-long holiday in Malaysia.

The withdrawal comes after Grace's $80 000 shopping spree in Rome in June last year on the sidelines of a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation summit, to which Mugabe was invited.

A charming lady, I'm sure.


AFP reports comments by the current President of South Africa (1/9/09):

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Zimbabwe's feuding parties have had a "lackadaisical" attitude toward ending a months-long stalemate, despite a worsening humanitarian crisis, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said Friday.

"The sooner an inclusive government is formed, the sooner there can be concerted efforts by all parties to deal with a massive humanitarian crisis," Motlanthe said in an interview with The Mail and Guardian newspaper.

"But the fact is that the parties there have sometimes had a lackadaisical attitude to these matters," he said.

Nelson Banya reports at Reuters:

HARARE, Jan 8 (Reuters) - A Zimbabwean court on Thursday ordered an investigation into allegations of torture brought against the police by opposition activists charged with plotting to topple President Robert Mugabe.

The seven, including a close aide of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, are charged with plotting insurrection, sabotage, banditry and terrorism. The arrests have added to doubts over chances of a political power-sharing deal.

The activists deny the charges against them and say they were tortured while in police custody. Their lawyers are seeking their release, arguing that they were abducted and not arrested properly.

And how about access to information? The Media Institute of South Africa (Windhoek) reports this (via allAfrica.com on 1/9/09):

The government has gazetted steep new fees under the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). The move will see foreign-based media houses fork out more than US$30,000 in application and permission to operate fees.

Foreign media organisations wishing to establish a representative office in Zimbabwe will pay an application fee of US$10,000 and a further US$20,000 and US$2,000 in permission to operate and permit administration fees, respectively.

Local journalists working for foreign media organisations will pay US$1,000 and US$3,000 in individual application and accreditation fees.

The cholera situation has an update from the WHO (via Xinhua):

HARARE, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has commended the Zimbabwean government for its efforts to contain the nationwide cholera outbreak, efforts that have led to a steady decline in reported cases and deaths, The Herald reported on Saturday.

Speaking from Geneva, WHO head of the Global Cholera Task Force Dr Claire-Lise Chaignat said there were signs that reported cholera cases along the South African border were also stabilizing.

"We are seeing that the epidemic is now starting to decline, especially when we break down the occurrence of cases by week. We see that, in fact, during the last week, up to January 3, there was quite an important decrease in the number of cases that have been reported from all over Zimbabwe," she said.

As of Thursday, the WHO reported that cholera cases had reached 36,671 with 1,822 deaths countrywide. New outbreaks were recorded in Gokwe South and Chipinge.

Let us pray for the people of Zimbabwe and every land who struggle with disease, oppression, and famine.
--the BB

Pray for Zimbabwe - updated

I have asked prayers for Zimbabwe and her people on several occasions. My personal link was a seminarian from Zimbabwe who was studying in Berkeley and preached in our church.

The situation there continues to degenerate on multiple fronts: politics, disease, food, justice, etc.

President Mugabe was once a great liberation hero, leading in the struggle for indigenous rule in what was once part of Rhodesia. It is unfortunate that his drive for power has led him from that noble legacy into one of brutal oppression and corruption.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is a friend of Mugabe and has been a strong enabler of the continued oppression and injustice in Zimbabwe - not to mention his wrong-headedness on AIDS that has cost many lives. He too goes down for infamy in my book and I am glad he is no longer president of SA.

Today there is an extensive post by FishOutofWater at Daily Kos titled Zimbabwe Imploding, South Africa Moving in. I commend it to you.

President Kgalema Motlanthe’s cabinet will today unveil a plan for rescuing the country, which is buckling under the weight of a shattered economy, food shortages, a cholera outbreak and rioting soldiers.

Cholera has broken out, being the most recent crisis. Since disease can spread across borders, this threatens all the neighboring nations as well.

The political power-sharing situation remains unresolved.

Pray for the people of Zimbabwe.



UPDATE:
I commend to y'all's attention the comments by the Prime Minister of Kenya included in a post by Chris in Paris at Americablog.

--the BB

A pause in my busyness

It has been some time since the elections in Zimbabwe. The path toward power sharing is fraught with many dangers and the plight of the people of Zimbabwe is great. Nearly every day for weeks there have been headlines about negotiations in Zimbabwe right near the top of the Google News page. I no longer have time (or energy - work does that) to post daily headlines from around the world. I miss doing so.

Tonight I want to ask y'all to offer a prayer, meditation, good thought, whatever works for you, for the people of Zimbabwe, for successful negotiations, for peace and a path toward prosperity. Some democracy thrown in would be good too.

Let us never abandon hope nor cease to live and proclaim Good News.

Leli vangeli bo
ayisilo lokudlala
Leli vangeli
lihamba ngomoyo oyingcwele

[No assertions about my orthography there]
--the BB

In the aftermath of the forced vote: Zimbabwe

Jenni Williams offers a report on Zimbabwe that speaks for the common people (at AllAfrica.com).

Zimbabweans have lost faith in politicians’ ability to return life to the living. We do not think power sharing or a government of national unity (GNU) can work in Zimbabwe. We need an independent and impartial transitional authority under African leadership.

African leaders should not dictate that a GNU be the only solution to our crisis. Zimbabwe is not Kenya and their solutions cannot be imposed on us, especially with our historical experiences of 1987. We need a solution to address the specific of the Zimbabwe crisis. In Zimbabwe, the military elite runs the show not only on military might but also on political partisanship. For the ordinary soldier, police officer or prison officer to keep their job they have to follow political orders. This is the situation at any police station in the country. A transitional authority would be better placed to address this problem. A neutral person from Africa must be found who, supported by Zimbabwean technocrats, can form an interim authority that will neutralise the pillars of state, including the police. The violence can only be stopped when the victims can once again report abuses to an impartial body and trust that the perpetrators will be arrested and put on trial no matter who they are. For this to happen, magistrates and judges will also need to know that they will also be watched to ensure that there is justice through the courts for all equally.

I recommend reading the whole article to get a sense of Zimbabwe's plight.

Alas, President Mbeki of South Africa's role in all this has been a farce and a crime. Robert Mugabe, once a liberation hero, has become one of the world's worst bullies and tyrants, a criminal of the first order.

Pray for the people of Zimbabwe.

--the BB

Pray for the people of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Under Military Rule?
TIME - 2 hours ago
A Zimbabwean soldier secures the area as Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe toors The Zimbabwe Internatinal Trade Fair in Bulawayo. Shaken by the rebuke he suffered at the hands of Zimbabwe's voters on March 29, President Robert Mugabe was widely rumored ...
Desperate in Zimbabwe Akron Beacon Journal
Zimbabwe: Jails Emptied to Take in Opponents AllAfrica.com

Updates from Zimbabwe

There's this from the Guardian:

Riot police in Zimbabwe yesterday raided the offices of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as well as those of independent election observers, seizing computers and documents and arresting scores of people in the biggest crackdown since last month's disputed election.

...

Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), a coalition of 38 groups that monitored the poll, was raided at the same time. Files were confiscated under a warrant authorising police to search for "subversive material likely to cause the overthrow of a democratically elected government". Police are reported to be searching for the group's chairman, Noel Kututwa.

Oh, and this:

Yesterday [Mugabe] again accused western countries of trying to oust him by conspiring with the opposition. The Herald added to his vitriol, describing African leaders who have criticised the withholding of election results as "myopic stooges".

And there's this from MSNBC:

For the first time in 28 years, the opposition wrested a parliamentary majority from Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF in a March 29 poll, triggering a recount of 23 out of 210 constituencies.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said 14 out of the 23 seats had been recounted so far, and the original result was confirmed in all of them.

BBC notes this:

Earlier, US Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer said the level of government intimidation in Zimbabwe was now so high that a fair run-off would not be possible.

She said the only solution was an inclusive government, led by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Zimbabwe Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa called her comments "patently false, inflammatory, irresponsible and uncalled-for".

We all know Mugabe will not go quietly. Iron-fisted dictators never do.

Pray for the people of Zimbabwe.
--the BB

Zimbo visitor makes 56!

Icon of Saint Bernard Mizeki by Robert Lentz, OFM
Feast Day June 18
Image via Trinity Stores

A hearty welcome to today's visitor from Zimbabwe. It has been four days since a new flag has shown up on the counter and I am delighted to see the Zimbabwean flag show up.

Yes, I do have a 3'x5' flag of Zimbabwe in my physical flag collection. The connection is as follows:
A seminarian from Zimbabwe was studying at CDSP (that's The Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California) and was friends with JoAnne Bennett. JoAnne was doing her field ed at St Cuddy's and I invited Mark Malisa to come preach. This was very exciting as it was his first time preaching. His father was a priest in Zimbabwe and through Mark we briefly had a sister-parish relationship with St Anne's, Gokwe.

I wanted to learn some music and it took lots of effort but I finally learned one Gospel chant that I still love to sing whenever I can. We sang it sometimes on Pentecost. I was the only one attempting it in nDebele but I translated it into English for the congregation. This may be a faulty version since I am doing it from memory and I know I don't have the orthography right.

Leli vangeli bo
ayisilo lokudlala
leli vangeli
lihamba ngomoyo oyingcwele
selihamba
lihamba ngomoyo oyingcwele

This holy Gospel; it should not be taken lightly.
This Gospel; the Holy Spirit gives it power.
It is moving; the Holy Spirit gives it power.


With this joyous perspective, let us pray for the people of Zimbabwe who are dealing with social upheaval, an iron-fisted regime of a president-for-life, a shattered economy, and a church torn with strife as well.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

May the cross of the Son of God, who is mightier than all the powers of evil, abide with you in your going out and your coming in! From the wrath of evil people, from the temptation of the devil, from all low passions that beguile the soul and body, may it guard, protect, and deliver you: and may the blessing of God the Almighty and Merciful, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
—Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer
of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon


"Kalibusiswe Ilizwe leZimbabwe"
"Simudzai Mureza wedu WeZimbabwe"
"Blessed be the Land of Zimbabwe"

UPDATE:
I forgot to mention. I was ordained a minister of the Gospel (as a Baptist) on the feast of Bernard Mizeki, catechist and martyr in Mashonaland.

UPDATE2:

Thanks to Padre Mickey who remembered Mark's last name.  With the memory jog I can affirm that it was Malisa.
--the BB