Archbishop Tutu leads calls for African repudiation of Mugabe: CEN 7.04.08 p 8. July 7, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Zimbabwe.trackback
Former Archbishop of Capetown and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu has called upon the leaders of the African Union to repudiate Robert Mugabe.
Speaking to the BBC before the start of the June 30 AU meeting in Egypt, Archbishop Tutu urged African government leaders to stop in and resolve the civic and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
Re-elected President on June 27 after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai was forced to pull out of the race following the murders of at least 90 members of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party at the hand of thugs of the ruling ZANU-PF party and police loyal to the Zimbabwe strongman, Mugabe was hurriedly sworn in as president on June 29.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission asserted he had won 85% of the ballots cast—though its ability to report the outcome within days, rather than the months it took to issue the returns from the March elections—which independent observers widely credit Tsvangirai as having won, is seen as suspect.
On Saturday Prime Minister Gordon Brown rejected the legitimacy of the elections and said Britain would “work with international partners to find a way to close this sickening chapter that has cost so many lives.”
Leaders of the MDC are expected to travel to Egypt to present their case to the AU leaders. However, Tsvangirai will not be among them, as the government has refused to return his passport, effectively banning him from traveling abroad.
“If you were to have a unanimous voice, saying quite clearly to Mr Mugabe, ‘you are illegitimate and we will not recognise your administration in any shape or form,’ I think that would be a very, very powerful signal and would really strengthen the hand of the international community,” Archbishop Tutu said on June 29.
“That crisis has to be resolved sooner rather than later,” he said. “I think that a very good argument can be made for having an international force to restore peace.
“Almost everybody will say that any arrangement after Friday’s charade, that arrangement should be one in which Mr Mugabe certainly does not feature any longer,” Archbishop Tutu said.
In a pastoral letter issued earlier this month, Harare bishop Dr. Sebastian Bakare urged Anglicans to hold fast to their faith in the face of government persecution. The security services have closed Harare’s Anglican churches and assaulted clergy and worshippers, accusing them of being supporters of the MDC. Former Harare bishop Dr. Nolbert Kunonga, has backed the regime and is being rewarded with government support in his campaign to bend the diocese to his will.
Congrats to Tutu. Where is Akinola’s statement?
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