The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) has said the unresolved August 2023 election dispute has worsened the suffering of ordinary citizens and that there is a general feeling that the country is moving towards a one-party State.
In a statement issued on Monday, 12 February, to mark the beginning of the Catholic Church Lenten season, ZCBC said Zimbabweans are worried that democracy is slowly dying. Said the bishops:
Our local environment has not been exempted from the global challenges noted above. Our country continues to suffer from the displacement of families due to the non-performance of the economy.
The decision by the Government to raise taxes at a time when ordinary people can hardly afford a meal a day has worsened the family situation.
For the majority of the elderly and the poor in particular, it has become unbearable to live. Prices of basic commodities are increasingly expensive.
The unresolved political contests since the August 2023 elections have not left the country in a good space.
Locally, there are fears among people that we are moving towards a one-party State, with democracy dying a slow death.
The Catholic bishops said most of the challenges facing people are a result of “bad politics”. Reads the statement:
Whereas some of these ills are a result of natural disasters, most of them are man-made and are not accidental.
Poverty in the world is a direct result of the political and economic policies of governments, political parties and big businesses.
It is a result of policies and systems. In the light of bad politics, failed economic systems and their devastating effects, many people are in despair.
The remarks by the Catholic bishops come as a small group of CCC activists connived with State institutions to reverse the results of the 23 August 2023 general elections and give ZANU PF a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, the Lower House of Parliament.
Fronted by one Sengezo Tshabangu who claimed to be CCC’s interim secretary-general, the activists recalled dozens of the party’s MPs and Councillors who won their seats in a hostile political environment.
After effecting the recalls, Tshabangu and his colleagues did not bother fielding candidates in some of the contested wards, allowing ZANU PF candidates to win uncontested.
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