US Secretary of State Colin Powell met here on Tuesday with a controversial Roman Catholic archbishop from Zimbabwe to thank him for his outspoken opposition to the practices of President Robert Mugabe’s government.
Powell lauded Pius Ncube, archbishop of Bulawayo, for his ”principled stance” against many of Mugabe’s policies, a position which earned him a warning from police in February, State Department representative Richard Boucher said.
”The meeting is to thank the archbishop for his principled stance in favour of human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe,” Boucher said.
”The secretary (also sought) the archbishop’s views on Zimbabwe’s worsening humanitarian and human rights situations.”
Later, a senior State Department official who attended the meeting said Powell ”wanted to recognise the strong role the archibishop has played in standing up for the Zimbabwean people and their humanitarian and civil rights.”
”The secretary wanted to commend him for that,” the official said on condition of anonymity. ”Ncube has been explembery in being willing to put himself in a strong position for his people.”
Washington has become highly critical of Mugabe and his increasingly autocratic style with some US officials calling for him to hand over power to a transitional government that would hold free and fair elections.
Ncube, along with other members of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, signed a letter made public last month that criticised Mugabe’s government for failing to create a free and just environment.
”We condemn some members of government who have practised partiality, have openly refused to serve people who do not belong to their own party,” the letter said.
It said that ”poor planning” by the government had exacerbated the effects of the country’s current devastating drought which now threatens about seven million Zimbabweans.
At the same time, the bishops accused opposition parties of contributing to violence that has marred recent elections.
In February, Ncube said he had been cautioned by police about a religious service he conducted during which victims of allegedly government-condoned torture gave testimonies.
Ncube said the police had told him his services were expected to be of purely religious nature to which he had replied that it was impossible to separate issues of hunger, economic hardships and violence from religion.
”If people are suffering … the church cannot excuse itself,” he said at the time.
Mugabe, Roman Catholic himself, has on several occasions said Ncube should stick to religion and not mix it with politics. – Sapa-AFP