Archbishop Of York Puts Collar Back On, 10 Years Later, After Mugabe Resignation
John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York and the second most senior clergyman in the Church of England, has put his white cleric’s collar back on after almost 10 years following the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe. Sentamu took off his collar and cut it up in 2007 saying that he would not wear it again until Mugabe was gone from Zimbabwean politics. Back then, Sentamu said:
You know what Mugabe has done? He’s taken people’s identity, and literally, if you don’t mind, cut it to pieces, and in the end, there’s nothing
Mugabe stepped down last Tuesday to make way for his former deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa, after 37 years as head of state. After Mugabe’s resignation Sentamu put on a new collar saying:
I think the lesson for Zimbabwe is the same. They just can’t try and stitch it up. Something more radical, something new has to happen in terms of the rule of law, allowing people to get jobs
I promised when Mugabe goes I (would) put my collar on, so I have no choice but to put it back on. And Mugabe has gone but the new president has to remember something more new than simply stitching up a thing will work.
He also said that Mugabe needs to acknowledge the harm that he had done when he was in power:
Mugabe at some point needs to say, ‘people of Zimbabwe, 37 years (ago) I took on a country that was fantastic, I nearly took it to ruin. Zimbabweans forgive me’,
The Archbishop of York also advised new President Emmerson Mnangagwa to confront the past and not to bury it:
It is quite possible that Emmerson Mnangagwa could actually be a very, very good president. But he can’t simply bury the past. It won’t go away
