Zimbabwe President to Respond to Catholic Bishops

18 AUG, 2020 - 00:08 

Herald Reporter

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa will today issue a comprehensive response to a pastoral letter from the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC), Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana said yesterday

This comes in the wake of a letter by ZCBC to the President, which was widely distributed to all local media organisations.

The letter resonated with the manufactured-crisis mantra raised by opposition political parties keen to attract international spotlight on Zimbabwe after failing to win the 2018 Presidential plebiscite.

It also comes as the Church has apparently ignored President Mnangagwa’s open-door policy which has often seen organisations from different backgrounds engaging with the Government on different levels.

In a post on micro-blogging platform Twitter, Mr Mangwana said “regarding issues around the pastoral letter by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, President Mnangagwa is going to issue a comprehensive statement tomorrow (today)”.

The Government has denounced the pastoral letter for failing to appreciate that Zimbabwe, just like the rest of the world, was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic and was also groaning under the unjustified load of economic sanctions.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa described the letter as unacceptable, while Mr Mangwana said the letter does not reflect what is on the ground.

The pastoral letter  triggered a storm in the country with fresh questions being raised on the “nefarious relationship” between the Church and the country’s detractors.

The letter comes hard on the heels of an-anti Zimbabwe campaign on social media which sought to manufacture a non-existent crisis in the country that was led by remnants of the G40 faction, the country’s opposition and some misinformed politicians in South Africa and the region at large.

However, attempts to soil the image of the Second Republic have hit a brick-wall as the region has ignored calls by the country’s detractors to put Zimbabwe on the agenda at the ongoing SADC summit, that is being held virtually because of the Covid-19 pandemic.