Catholic Bishops: Political Violence, Incarceration of Zanu PF Opponents Ahead of Crucial Elections WorryingWASHINGTON - Catholic bishops have expressed concern over violence, the incarceration of political opponents ahead of Zimbabwe’s forthcoming general elections. In its latest letter, the bishops said it is worrying that some Zimbabweans are being silenced for being opponents of the government. “A General Election is a sacred moment of synodality and communal discernment. Because synodality is about journeying together, an important watershed moment in the life of a people, a General Election, should never be preceded by violence. Because it is a time of communal discernment about the kind of leadership we want, and where we wish to go as a nation, a General Election, should never be in a context of intimidation and incarceration. We are going towards the General Elections with some people incarcerated for expressing their views. “As we go for elections it is imperative that there is clarity about what we want from these elections, hence the need for the 40 days of fasting and prayer. If important elections such as these become nothing but a power game, seeking to attain or retain power and nothing else to offer beyond this, then as a nation, we are lost and we are doomed.” The bishops said Zimbabweans are currently facing many problems ahead of the crucial polls/ “Looking at where we are, we see that our people are witnesses and worse, victims of abject poverty and destitution. We live with these and there doesn’t seem to be an exodus, a way out of this desperation, where people are without work, and those with work are paid never enough to feed themselves and look after their families. We see a growing population on the streets living on begging. We see a very high percentage of young people of school going age not going to school and a good number of them now being employed, by untouchable drug lords, to sell drugs and killing themselves and many others in the process.” They are worried about politics in Zimbabwe. “We also see that our people are being used as ponies in the power game. Clearly they are victims of political violence fanned by the reckless utterances of the political leadership in its quest for power. How many more people have to be maimed and how many have to be killed before we can put a stop to all this? Surely we can allow compassion for each other to breathe. We can tolerate political differences and we can learn from each other what to add to our own political vision and how to market it without the shedding of blood. “Violence should never be a tool employed in politics. As Pope Francis reminded us, ‘The instrument of politics is closeness, it is about confronting problems, understanding them....it is about something we have forgotten how to do: persuasion…’” They noted that Zimbabweans are expected to elect a leader that has a clear plan about how to put families first by creating good employment so as to lower the increased number of our poor people living in desperate situations of outright deprivation. “This election must bring to the highest office a leader who cares about the health of the excluded poor both young and old. Pope Benedict XVI, 14 years ago, called political leaders to create economies capable of including all people where ‘all will be able to give and receive, without one group making progress at the expense of the other’. No doubt the principal goal of the war of liberation was not only political emancipation but economic inclusivity, so as to ensure bread on every table and equal opportunities for all. “The past attempts by our government building schools and universities, clinics and hospitals, and providing opportunities for the excluded in the public and private sector cannot go unacknowledged. We need to build on these successes and this is where we are failing. The altruistic approach that gave us the aforementioned successes seemingly has been aborted and replaced by a raw form of individualism seeking nothing but self-aggrandizement through corruption.” The bishops said what is most worrisome is that rampart corruption by known players is not being nipped in the bud by the responsible offices but is seemingly supported by those in power by their silence and inaction. “The Auditor General’s report of 2021 makes for painful reading as it confirms total disregard for structures of accountability. She writes that some ministries have not made their documents available for audit despite the fact that this is a requirement. Where there is no transparency and no accountability, we can conclude that there is corruption at a large scale. The chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission admitted in 2019 that the commission could do very little because the courts were corrupt.” The bishops urged Zimbabweans to think about the leadership they want when they go to the polls. “Can we choose from the candidates who will present themselves, people who will lead our country on the path of economic prosperity, justice and freedom for which our brothers and sisters gave their lives in the war of liberation? Can we choose those candidates who will be accountable to the people. Many countries in Africa have witnessed the shrinking of the democratic space through the increased use of force to silence dissenting voices. “As Victor Hugo once said ‘An invasion of armies can be resisted; an invasion of ideas cannot be resisted. Force can never erase the longing in the people’s hearts for freedom and accountability. Governments that ignore this may last for a while, propped up as they are by armies, but in the long run they will not succeed.’” They said the use of force has a long history in Zimbabwe dating back to the colonial times. The bishops added that while the 1970s were the most painful example of the use of force to try and destroy the aspirations of the black majority “in our own times we continue to witness the use of force to silence dissent. “We are witnesses, in our own times, of this abuse of power. What can we do to make this election different, before, during and after? … Repentance can point us to an answer. There is no repentance that does not touch the core of our being. Whatever good we desire for our country must begin with us as individuals.