BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
There were several incidents of assault, torture, displacements and
unlawful arrests of demonstrators by the police during MDC-organized
mass protests such as stay-aways, the Final Push and Winter Battles.
According to The Standard of 09 January 2009, the statistical report
prepared by the Human Rights Forum found out that between January
and September 2004, 12 people were killed in politically-motivated vio-
lence, 202 were unlawfully arrested, 7491 were tortured while 329 were
assaulted. It is against this background that the church called for spiritu-
ality and morality citing Matthew 22:37-40, John 10;10 and 1 Corinthians
12:26 (TZWW, 12,13,15).
The report alleges that the bulk of the cases were perpetrated by state
security agents, war veterans and the youth militias although this is
disputed by the incumbent party. The president also enacted the new
legislations: the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which curtailed the
freedom of the peoples.
The 2002 Presidential elections were held at the peak of the Land Re-
form Programme and many known and suspected supporters of opposi-
tion were killed. However, it must be pointed out that the election by
their very nature were combative. Consequently, in 2002, Zimbabwe was
suspended from the Commonwealth, its membership rights in the IMF
were revoked and “bomb sanctions” were imposed on the president and
other ZANU PF individuals. Zimbabwe became a “persona non grata” in
the international community and this development clamped its econ-
omy.
Operation Murambatsvina and the economic crisis
By 2002, the president and those close to him were declared persona non
grata in the international community and Zimbabwe was labeled a “pa-
riah state”. The imposition of “bomb sanctions” and the subsequent
isolation of Zimbabwe from the international community clamped the
economy of Zimbabwe that by 2005, Zimbabwe had degenerated into a
tumbledown state. Zimbabweans began to engage in a myriad of infor-
mal sector activities in order to cope with an increasingly harsh eco-
nomic dispensation.
These activities included cross border trading, street vending, gold pan-
ning, flea marketing, foreign currency dealings and so on. Hundreds of
thousands of Zimbabweans left the country and foraged for opportuni-