Parly summonses diamond miners’ directors

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Own Correspondent Tuesday 23 March 2010

HARARE – A special parliamentary committee investigating operations at
Zimbabwe’s controversial Marange diamond field has summonsed directors of
two firms mining the deposits to appear before it today or face possible
arrest.

A senior member of Parliament’s portfolio committee on mines told ZimOnline
that summonses were last Friday issued to the directors of Mbada Investments
and Canadile Miners, the joint-venture firms formed last year by state-owned
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and some South African
investors to mine the Marange field that is also known as Chiadzwa.

The decision to issue summonses – which sources say were “hand delivered by
the police” – follows the company directors’ repeated failure to appear
before the committee.

"We took legal action and issued summons to be hand delivered by the police
to the chairmen and directors of Mbada and Canadile to appear before the
committee on Tuesday (today),” said our source, who declined to be named
because he was not authorised to discuss the matter with the Press.

“Failure (to appear) would result in Parliament’s legal committee taking
steps to arrest (the company directors) and sentence them to prison,” the
committee member said.

Parliament has powers to send to jail anyone found guilty of violating the
House’s rules and regulations.

The directors of Mbada and Canadile have over the past four weeks dodged
appearing before the parliamentary committee at one time suggesting that
they could not give evidence before the committee until the courts rule on
an application regarding ownership of the Marange claims.

Mbada and Canadile have also indicated that their refusal to appear before
the committee is on advice from the Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development.

The state media reported on Sunday that Mbada and Canadile have written to
parliamentary clerk Austin Zvoma requesting postponement of their appearance
before the committee until the courts conclude an application by
British-based Africa Consolidated Resources (ACR) challenging the two firms’
rights to exploit the Marange claims.

ACR owns legal title to the diamond claims but was controversially forced
off Marange by the government about four years ago.

Our source said the parliamentary committee will insist that the directors
appear before it because the matters it wants to discuss with the company
officials are not related to the ACR court case.

The parliamentary committee among other things wants to establish why and
who licenced Mbada and Canadile to exploit the Marange deposits without
following proper procedures.

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu has admitted that his department did not follow
proper procedure when it allowed the two firms to work the Marange claims
but said it was because the government was in urgent need of cash from the
diamonds.

Mbada and Canadile were brought to Marange in a bid to bring operations at
the notorious field in line with standards stipulated by world diamond
industry watchdog, the Kimberley Process (KP).

However, the two companies’ operations in the field are shrouded in
controversy, amid revelations that some members of the boards of the two
firms were once illegal drug and diamond dealers in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone.

Some of the directors of the two firms are also known to have close ties
with Zimbabwe’s military establishment that is accused of stealing millions
of dollars worth of diamonds from Marange and offloading them onto the
foreign black market for precious stones.

Marange is one of the world’s most controversial diamond fields with reports
that soldiers sent to guard the claims after the government took over the
field in October 2006 from ACR that owned the deposits committed gross human
rights abuses against illegal miners who had descended on the field.

Human rights groups have been pushing for a ban on Zimbabwean diamonds but
last November, the country escaped a KP ban with the global body giving
Harare a June 2010 deadline to make reforms to comply with its
regulations. – ZimOnline

Zim relaunches food-for-work programmes

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Lizwe Sebatha Tuesday 23 March 2010

BULAWAYO - Government has partnered Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to
re-launch food-for-work programmes, days after a United Nations (UN) agency
urged Harare to start food relief efforts to avert starvation due to massive
crop failure, a Cabinet minister said.

A joint government and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) crop assessment report released recently urged government to resume
food supplies to areas facing poor harvests because of erratic rains.

Crops in most parts of the country, especially in Matabeleland South,
Midlands and Manicaland were a complete write-off following a prolonged dry
spell between November and January, leaving villagers staring starvation.

For example, the hunger-prone Matabeleland South province is estimated to
require at least 9 000 tonnes of food aid per month to avert starvation
after most crops in the region failed.

Agriculture Mechanisation Minister Joseph Made told ZimOnline on Sunday that
the government has partnered with NGOs to re-launch food-for-work programmes
to ease the impact of food shortages.

"The government has since partnered with the NGOs operating in the country
to provide food to areas that had massive crop failure on a food-for-work
basis," said Made, adding; "The NGOs are working with the local government
authorities to ensure the smooth flow of the programme."

Made said the Finance Ministry has also released US$3.5 million to the Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) to allow it to buy grain as well as set up the 500
000-metric-tonne strategic grain reserve to mitigate any food deficits.

Zimbabwe has grappled with severe food shortages over the past decade after
President Robert Mugabe disrupted the key agriculture sector through his
chaotic and often violent land reform programme.

The farm seizures reduced agricultural production by 60 percent resulting in
most Zimbabweans depending on food handouts from international food relief
agencies.
But Mugabe denies that his land reforms - that he says were necessary to
ensure blacks also had access to arable land that they were denied by
previous white-led governments - triggered the food shortages blaming the
crisis on drought and economic sabotage by his Western enemies that he says
crippled the economy's capacity to produce key inputs such as seed and
fertilizers.  - ZimOnline

Zimbabwe Black Empowerment Organization Divided Over Indigenization Process

http://www1.voanews.com

Sources said Affirmative Action members in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's
second-largest city, refused when asked to identify private companies that
could be obliged to cede up to 51 percent of their shares to indigenous
blacks

Gibbs Dube & Sandra Nyaira | Washington 22 March 2010

Zimbabwe's move to put a controlling interest in large firms into black
hands is dividing the Affirmative Action Group, its largest black
empowerment organization.

Sources said Affirmative Action members in Bulawayo, the country's
second-largest city, refused to identify private companies which could be
obliged to cede up to 51 percent of their shares to indigenous blacks.

Sources in the Affirmative Action Group and the Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce said some Harare-based business people asked Bulawayo contacts to
identify local private companies that could be targeted for indigenization.

"Our members in Harare have been positioning themselves to take over some
companies in the city but we have refused to give them any names of
companies targeted for indigenization because the same people who have
benefited in the past want to start grabbing these firms for their own
benefit," said one source.

The sources said the refusal by the Bulawayo branch of the organization to
provide information to members in Harare has caused serious tension in the
group.

Affirmative Action Group leaders were tight-lipped over the issue. But
founding member and former president Matson Hlalo told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Gibbs Dube that Bulawayo members of the group don't want to be part of a
process they see as predatory.

"The indigenization process is being hijacked by rich people who want to
amass wealth at the expense of members of the public," said Hlalo.

But AAG founding president Philip Chiyangwa dismissed claims by the Bulawayo
chapter of the organization that indigenization has only benefited a handful
of people, including himself.

Mnangagwa denies army backed Mugabe

SA company sues RBZ over $1,3m debt

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=28183

March 22, 2010

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - A South African company has joined the queue to sue the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) over its failure to settle a $1,3 million debt for
the supply of seed five years ago.

Harare lawyer Tembinkosi Magwaliba confirmed that a judgment was now awaited
in the matter.

"I can confirm that I am representing Advance Seed South Africa in this
case," said Magwaliba. "Judgment in the matter will be delivered any day
from now."

The central bank's assets are currently being auctioned countrywide in a bid
to recover a $2 million debt owed to a local company-Farmtec Spares and
Implements - for the supply of tractors.

Over the weekend another Harare lawyer Innocent Chagonda said he had
obtained a High Court order for the attachment of central bank assets for a
$4 million debt owed to Seed Co.

Central Bank chief Gideon Gono launched the so-called farm mechanization
programme that saw thousands of mainly Zanu-PF supporters, including service
chiefs, receiving inputs such as tractors, combine harvesters, planters,
generators, scotch-carts, boom sprayers, motorbikes and ploughs among
implements for free.

But following the replacement of the Zimbabwe dollar with multiple foreign
currencies, Gono has found the bank's situation untenable and in February
issued a statement that it was high time the beneficiaries of the implements
paid back.

"Having gone for over 30 months post-commencement of the programme, it is
now time farmers, beginning the 2010 harvests, start to pay for the
equipment they received," Gono said in the statement.

"Beneficiaries under the Farm Mechanisation Programme will, therefore, be
receiving detailed statements and invoices, along with the payment
modalities which will be delivered to each farm gate."

War vets to campaign for Kariba Draft

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=28179

March 22, 2010

By Owen Chikari

MASVINGO - War veterans and Zanu-PF supporters have resolved to set up bases
throughout the country to campaign for the adoption of the Kariba Draft
Constitution amid fears of an eruption of violence.

The outreach programme of the constitutional reform process, which will
involve the gathering of people's views to be included in the document, is
set to start early next month.

The process was delayed because of differences among the political parties
in the country's fragile inclusive government.

At a meeting held at the Chiefs Hall in Mucheke on Monday, so-called war
veterans and Zanu-PF youths resolved to launch what they described as a
serious campaign reminiscent of pre-election campaigning in order to push
for the adoption of the Kariba Draft.

President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has been pushing for the adoption of
the Kariba Draft, put together in the town of Kariba by his party and the
MDC parties three years ago.

The mainstream MDC, led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, is now opposed
to the draft cobbled together by politicians without consultation of the
public.

But Zanu-PF is sticking to the draft, apparently because it leaves Mugabe's
powers intact. And the party has signalled it would pull all stops,
including setting up campaign bases to ensure adoption of the draft.

"We have agreed that the constitutional reform process is just similar to an
election," said Isaiah Muzenda Masvingo provincial war veterans chairman,
"and as war veterans and party youths we are going to dig deeper into our
bags of tricks so that we push our party's agenda.

"The establishment of bases in the countryside has been helpful to us during
election time and therefore we are definitely going to re-employ it. The
idea is not to beat up people but to teach people."

Zanu-PF youths at the meeting said that they would ensure that the party's
position was understood.

"We will just campaign for the party's position the same way we have done
during election times," said one of the youths at the meeting

The meeting was attended by members of Zanu-PF's central committee and
politburo.

There are strong fears that violence will erupt during the outreach
programme as political parties within the inclusive government push for
their positions.

War veterans and Zanu-PF youths, infamously known as the Green Bombers, have
played a part in sustaining Mugabe's rule through violent campaigns,
particularly in the rural areas.

The army and state security agents have also been accused of violence,
intimidation and abductions.

During the run-up to the June 27 presidential election runoff in 2008, the
mainstream MDC claimed that over 500 of its supporters were killed by Mugabe's
supporters and agents.

Campaign bases similar to those established during the liberation struggle
were set up in the countryside where political opponents were tortured and
harassed.

However, a co-chairperson of the parliamentary select committee, Paul
Mangwana, on Monday said they would not entertain violence during the
outreach programme.

Mangwana, who is the legislator for Chivi Central, representing Zanu-PF,
said: "We will not entertain violence during the constitution reform
process.

"Political parties are free to canvass for support but not to beat or
victimise people."

Zimbabwe PM Tsvangirai Moves to Defuse Tensions Between Legislators and Ministers

http://www1.voanews.com/

Mr. Tsvangirai told ministers and legislators that Cabinet members had
complained the House was subjecting them to 'unnecessary scrutiny and
inquiry,' while the lawmakers said ministers failed to show up or were
unresponsive

Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington 22 March 2010

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai moved Monday to defuse simmering
tensions between ministers and legislators clashing over supposed rudeness
and unresponsiveness in parliamentary question time.

Political sources said some ZANU-PF ministers asked the prime minister to
rein in house members they charge have been asking rude questions. Minister
of Mines Obert Mpofu in particular has objected to accusations from members
that he has acted less than transparently in his handling of the Marange
diamond field.

Mr. Tsvangirai told ministers and legislators that Cabinet members had
complained that the House was subjecting them to "unnecessary scrutiny and
inquiry." On the other hand, he said, legislators said ministers have either
not shown up or been unresponsive to questions.

Sources said Mpofu lashed out at legislators Monday for summoning his
permanent secretary to testify about the government's joint ventures with
private companies that are developing the Marange field, but about which
little is known - not even the names of their directors.

But Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma told Mpofu that lawmakers had not
exceeded their powers and did not need his permission to put such questions.

Tsvangirai spokesman James Maridadi told VOA Studio 7 reporter Ntungamili
Nkomo that Mr. Tsvangirai urged the lawmakers and ministers to bury the
hatchet and to focus on rebuilding the country.

"There is a feeling among ministers that they are being harassed by the
backbenchers when asked to come and appear before parliamentary portfolio
committees," Maridadi said.

"Legislators also complain that ministers disrespect them by not coming to
parliament when asked to do so. The prime minister was therefore telling
them to work together for the good of the country," he said.

Zanu PF Baying For Gono's Blood

http://news.radiovop.com

22/03/2010 19:08:00

Harare, March 23, 2010 - Top Zanu PF officials, including government
ministers are reportedly plotting the ouster of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) governor Gideon Gono for opposing the controversial Indigenisation and
empowerment law.

Radio VOP has it on good authority that a group of ministers who are not
happy with Gono's recent statements sharply contradicting the policies of
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF resolved at the weekend to push Mugabe to
fire the central bank boss.

They also resolved to approach their politburo to give the green light to
negotiators in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) to agree to the removal
of Gono as RBZ governor.

In an interview with the weekly Financial Gazette last week, Gono blasted
the indigenisation law claiming that it was a conduit for well connected
people to invade and destroy firms.

As exclusively revealed by Radio VOP three weeks ago, Gono believes that the
indeginisation law is being sponsored and promoted by greedy people who are
out to loot profitable companies and banks and advised them to start their
own companies and banks where they will own 100 percent.

He said the end result would be that there will be no production in the
companies the same way some people invaded productive land during land
reform and now they are failing to produce anything. Gono further argued
that the controversial indeginisation law scares away much needed foreign
investors.

But Gono's views are said to have been met with anger by some Zanu PF
officials who are now baying for his blood.

"Gono has gone too far this time around because he is speaking the language
you hear from the MDC. A few years ago, Gono tarnished our image saying we
were not producing on the acquired land, and he attacked government for
price controls but now he has really gone over the top, " a top Zanu PF
official told Radio VOP.

"Zanu PF is crying out for total empowerment yet people like Gono go out in
the public to attack the indeginisation law which is being supported by the
President himself. Who is he to go against Zanu PF policies? If he wants to
be MDC then he must say so in public and he can go.

"It is against this background that senior officials from the party will
approach the President to persuade him to fire Gono because his agenda now
is dubious. We cannot allow him to be the head of the central bank yet he is
working against us. This indigenisation law is irreversible whether Gono
likes it or not."

Mugabe has openly come out in the open supporting the indeginisation law
although indications are that after resistance from the MDC and influential
people like Gono, the law will have to be revised drastically.

But Mugabe does not usually take lightly to lone voices of reason among his
appointees who criticise his policies in public and is known to deal
ruthlessly with such people. At one point Simba Makoni, while he was Finance
Minister tried to devalue the Zimbabwe dollar but was described by Mugabe as
a saboteur and resigned.

He was also forced out of Zanu PF after it was established that he wanted to
challenge Mugabe for the presidency.

While Gono was said to be out of office when Radio VOP tried to contact him
on Monday, his close aide said while Gono was aware of maneuvers against him
from top Zanu PF officials, he remains unmoved.

"Governor Gono has always said he will not stay a day long if asked to go. I
mean, he is earning USD$100 a month but has a vast business empire in
farming, financial services and other vast businesses. He is now the third
largest producer of chicken in the country after Irvines and Crest Breeders
and slaughters up to 100 000 birds a week. He would surely be happy
concentrate on his empire.

"The governor has resolved only to speak to the media when necessary or when
his territory is under threat or if it involves national interests. He also
believes that a lot of his advice to government and politicians have not
been taken including the issue of price controls which ended with
supermarkets running on empty shelves.

"The governor is still complaining that due to the empty shops he was forced
to introduce Baccosi which made some companies survive but was also a major
source of inflation.  The governor is still opposed to this controversial
indigenisation laws as they will ruin the economy if not carefully handled.

"Governor Gono is against land reform like empowerment programmes because he
thinks land issues are different to industrial issues. He will protect the
financial sector from vultures circulating around foreign banks and wants
locals to apply for licences to allow for 100 percent ownership than allow
for disruptions at existing banks that are still in a fragile state," said
the top RBZ source.
 

Mugabe attacks Zimbabwe's land reform again

http://www.zimdaily.com/beta/news271338.html

By TONGAI MUDIWA

Published: Tuesday March 23, 2010

ZIMBABWE - HARARE - With signs increasing that the so-called third
Chimurenga is unravelling dramatically, President Robert Mugabe last weekend
attacked new farmers again for taking land when they knew they could not
farm.

ZimDaily understand this time Mugabe chose a function at his alma mater
Kutama College in his home village of Zvimba to make the revelation.

"We took land from the whites, and now you go back to them? If you cannot
farm why did you take the land?" fumed Mugabe.

His anger stems form revelations that numbers of white farmers have been
reengaged by "comrades" as "farm managers."

This is the second time in a fortnight that Mugabe has indicated that he is
feeling the pressure of a poorly planned programme gone wrong.

Two weeks ago, he labelled new farmer "primitive" for failing to make use of
abundant water resources and relying solely on rain for commercial farming.

"Mugabe is feeling the strain of a programme that is collapsing in his face.
Since Gideon Gono stopped printing worthless Zimdollars and giving huge
gifts of equipment, fuel and fertiliser to farmers who simply sold the on,
the land reform programme has gone into fifth reverse gear," said a Zanu PF
insider.

"The new Finance Minister Tendai Biti says the country needs farmers who
treat farming as a business and this has knocked many off their feet. They
were used to getting things for nothing and getting subsidised for doing
nothing all year," he added.

White farmers have been coming back and late last year Mashonaland Central
Governor Martin Dinha revealed that his office had processed application for
land allocation for more than 10 white farmers as Zimbabwe was a "united
country."

Surprisingly, this week, the zealous Governor was fingering chiefs in his
province for leasing out farms to white farmers.

"We will continue registering our support for Cde Mugabe. We will die with
Cde Mugabe rather than leave our land to be taken away by the former white
farmers," he said.

In Mashonaland East, a court has hear that the governor there, Aeneas
Chigwedere and Land reform Minister Herbert Murerwa have advised a white
farmer to stay put on his farm because they are reassessing land reform.

WORLD WATER DAY:  Water Everywhere but Not a Drop to Drink

http://www.ipsnews.net

By Ignatius Banda

BULAWAYO, Mar 22, 2010 (IPS) - When there are water cuts in Bulawayo, the
plants in 59-year-old Ntombizodwa Makati's vegetable garden are still
watered - but she and her family go thirsty.

Small scale farmers in Bulawayo are able to use recycled waste water for
their crops as lack of adequate rainfall affects the region, thanks to the
local city council's programme. But there are no programmes in place to
provide drinking water for households in the area. Makati is one of many
urban residents living in poor suburbs, in a city of two million people, who
face constant and prolonged water shortages.

World Water Day is on Mar. 22, which United Nations-Water has given the
theme of water quality "Clean Water for a Healthy World". But water quality
still remains an issue in Bulawayo. The city has long cited lack of
resources as the stumbling block toward providing water for domestic use.

Makati complains that while she is able to water her vegetable garden at her
home in Mabutweni, a high-density suburb, using waste water provided by the
city council, there still remain no alternative water sources for domestic
use.

Along with her fellow residents, Makati has been forced to resort to unsafe
open water sources for domestic use when the taps run dry - something that
happens on a regular basis.

"It is increasingly frustrating having to go without water and without
getting any warning from the municipality," Makati said.

"We are extremely (lucky) when the rain falls because then we can harvest
the rain water which we find clean and can use in our kitchens," she said.

However, the poor rains that have hit the drought-prone parts of Zimbabwe's
southern region means there is little Makati can fall back on as an
alternative water source.

What has exacerbated the crisis for Makati and many others is that she still
has to boil the unsafe drinking water, but electricity power cuts have
virtually made this impossible. The inability to purify the water places
many at risk of contracting cholera. Memories of the 2008 cholera outbreak
still remain fresh on the minds of locals.

The Bulawayo City Council has for years promoted the use of what it calls
"reclaimed water" where waste water from sewer treatment plants is used for
farming and urban agriculture projects. But such initiatives are yet to
extend to domestic water use.

This, according to city officials, is largely because a lack of funds has
stalled projects such as the drawing of water from the Zambezi River.

"We are still facing financial problems that have made harnessing ground
water and improving water quality and also water quantity difficult," says
council spokesperson Nesisa Mpofu.

Water quality remains an issue in Bulawayo with residents complaining that
water from household taps sometimes looks like river water, with a murky
brown appearance that clearly indicates it has not been chemically treated.

Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo acknowledged the criticism of the water quality,
especially to poor suburbs where the majority of the city's residents, like
Makati, reside. "We really have to strive to give our residents clean
water," Moyo told a recent council meeting.

The United Nations Children's Fund has since responded by giving the city
water treatment chemicals as part of efforts to improve water quality.

At the height of the 2008 cholera outbreak, which the World Health
Organisation says claimed over 6,000 lives, the Bulawayo City Council
provided water treatment tablets to households. But this programme stopped
after donor agencies saw the decline of cholera cases, Mpofu said.

Water Resources and Infrastructure Development Minister Sam Sipepa Nkomo has
lamented that the city's water problems will take long to be solved, citing
a poor budget vote for his ministry. The ministry was allocated a little
over 100 million dollars for the 2009/2010 budget, but Nkomo says the
building of the Zambezi water pipeline will need more than 1.2 billion
dollars.

The politics of water have stalked the council for years, with city
officials citing lack of commitment by the then government of President
Robert Mugabe.

With the continued poor rains, which experts say have been worsened by the
effects of climate change, the aims of World Water Day seem far off from be
being realised, water rights activist Susan Mbambo said.

"There have not been any tangible efforts to harness alternative water
sources for domestic use, but farmers have been receiving help because the
water they use is cheap to recycle but still cannot be used for domestic
use," said Mbambo who works closely with the Bulawayo Progressive Residents
Association.

"The city council cites lack of adequate budgetary support from central
government to fix water problems and this has meant residents turn to
sources like burst water pipes to scoop water for home use," Mbambo said.

Early this year, the city council cited financial setbacks as the reason for
failing to service about 77 boreholes at Nyamayendlovu, a local township.
 

Zuma must keep up the pressure on recalcitrant Mugabe

http://www.timeslive.co.za/

Mar 22, 2010 11:08 PM | By The Editor, The Times Newspaper

The Times Editorial: It is vital that President Jacob Zuma and the other
regional leaders strive to build on the momentum achieved by Zuma's
important visit to Harare last week.

Zuma, the Southern African Development Community's chief negotiator on
Zimbabwe, appears to be on the point of breaking the political log jam that
has all but scuttled that country's fledgling unity government.

By all accounts, Zuma took a far tougher line than his predecessor, Thabo
Mbeki, in dealing with the recalcitrant Robert Mugabe and his ruling
Zanu-PF.

After some significant horse trading, it now appears that Mugabe has agreed,
in principle, to overturn the appointment of two of his cronies to the
powerful positions of Reserve Bank governor and attorney-general, long a
major bone of contention with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
In return, the MDC will have to give up on appointing farmer Roy Bennett -
for years a thorn in Mugabe's side - as deputy agriculture minister,
although terror charges against Bennett will be dropped.

The political rivals have been given a tight deadline - next Wednesday - to
put flesh on these and other deadlock-breaking resolutions mediated by Zuma
and his team. These include the equal allocation, between the rival parties
in the coalition, of the provincial governorships and lobbying by all
parties against international sanctions targeting Mugabe and his acolytes.

This is solid progress, and could go a long way towards resuscitating the
one-year-old unity government.

If the momentum is maintained, it could lead to genuine multiparty
elections - monitored by independent observers and run by a credible
election commission - next year.

Zuma and the SADC owe it to all Zimbabweans to keep up the pressure.

Who is behind the persecution?

The plight of Anglicans in Harare raises questions of responsibility, says Sebastian Bakare

Locked out: the Bishop of Harare, the Rt Revd Chad Gandiya USPG

Since my retirement from being caretaker Bishop of Harare, I have had time to reflect about the most extraordinary and shocking situation that the diocese has been plunged into for the past two-and-a-half years. There are two issues, among others, to which I would like to draw particular attention: first, the lack of Christian solidarity with the per­secuted Anglicans in Harare diocese; and, second, the fact that this persecution still continues, despite numerous assurances by high-ranking government officials that it would be brought to an end immediately (News, 12 March). Our parishioners have regularly been blocked by police from entering church properties. In many instances, police have arrested worshippers and thrown them into cells for one or sometimes several nights. They have seriously injured some. Last weekend, for example, there were running battles at many churches in Harare. Riot police used tear gas, and again arrested several people, among them the Dean of Harare, the Very Revd Farai Mutamiri, and a priest from the cathedral, the Revd Phineas Fundira. Meanwhile, another priest went into hiding. Christians confess the universality of our faith (this is catholicity). As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12.26: "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together." Paul is writing this letter at a time when Christians were persecuted, reminding them that the local church in Corinth was representing the universal Church. So their perse­cution automatically affected fellow-Christians beyond their immediate community. This leaves no room for indifference whenever members of the Church universal are suffering persecution or any other adversity. My experience as caretaker Bishop tells me that this passage has not been taken seriously by fellow-Christian leaders who belong to other denominations in Zimbabwe. This became obvious when I approached them for the use of their church buildings on behalf of our congregations who were (and still are) not allowed to use their own churches. I did so under the as­sumption that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, only to realise that our brother- and sisterhood does not go beyond our denominational boundaries. Only one responded positively. The persecution that Anglicans in Harare have experienced is un­paralleled in the history of Zimbabwe. Yet, to my knowledge, no single church leader here has spoken up when our members have been beaten up and put in police cells. My assump­tion is that they fear persecution themselves - not by Mr Kunonga, the former Bishop of Harare, but by the police. This lack of courage is not new. Church history the world over has many examples of churches that chose to identify themselves with the powers that be rather than speak up against injustice. We have to remind each other that the powers of this world come and go, but the Church universal remains. It is in this context that the Church will be judged by future generations. On the other hand, many individual non-Anglican Christians have approached me, assuring me of their sympathy and prayers for the Anglican Church. Some have asked the same question about why other denominations in Zimbabwe have been silent on such a glaring example of injustice, perpetrated against ordinary members of one Church, whose only "crime" is to worship. All this is happening in defiance of a court ruling only two weeks ago, that churches have to be shared between followers of Mr Kunonga and of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. This ruling, like many others in the past, has been disregarded by police. There are significant questions about who is behind it all; who can disregard the high court judgment. One cannot help assuming that this persecution is also linked with the commonly held, and incorrect, view that the Anglican Church is a colonial Church - some are still calling it the "Church of England". All the main denominations in Zimbabwe have their roots outside the country. Their missionaries also worked hand-in-glove with the colonial government. On the positive side, all these denominations, Angli­cans included, pioneered education and health services, among other things, to the benefit of all up to today. It needs to be made very clear that the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe today is a member of the Church of the Province of Central Africa, which comprises four countries, and is autonomous. Zimbabweans need to understand that the Archbishop of Canterbury is not a pope with central authority, but the spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. This means that he has no jurisdiction over the church provinces in other parts of the world. The question remains whether the wrangle caused by Mr Kunonga has been taken as a welcome opportunity to vent political anger on the so-called colonial Church. The in­ability to stop this persecution leaves no doubt that there is more to it than meets the eye. I am appealing to the other Churches in Zimbabwe to take their Christian solidarity seriously, and to the political leadership to do everything in its power to stop the persecution, and to reinforce freedom of worship (which is guaranteed by our national constitution). Dr Sebastian Bakare was caretaker Bishop of Harare from November 2007 to July 2009. He is a former Bishop of Manicaland.