Mugabe rages at ‘satanic’ archbishop

BY CHRISTOPHER LAMB
ZIMBABWE’S President Robert Mugabe has accused Archbishop Pius Ncube of conspiring with the British Government in a “satanic” attempt to topple his regime from power.
Speaking at the funeral of war veteran Mark Dube, a senior member of Mr Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party, he said: “Dube would never have gone to Britain to invite Blair to ‘please come and invade his motherland’, in the same satanic way Archbishop Pius Ncube and his opposition colleagues are doing repeatedly today.” Mr Mugabe was also responding to criticisms made by Archbishop Ncube on his recent visit to Britain. A consistent critic of the Zanu-PF regime, the Arch bishop told The Catholic Herald last month that Mr Mugabe now plans to starve the Zimbabwean people into submission while using political violence that includes murder, torture, beatings and intimidation to win the next election. He also accused Christian leaders of “betraying Jesus Christ” by staying quiet and therefore “playing into the hands” of Mr Mugabe. “I am convinced it is not the will of God for Mugabe to bully everyone into silence” he explained.
“I felt that I had to speak up when I realised that he was silencing everyone – civil society, the judiciary, the churches, the police and the press.” He has also urged Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa to speak out against the abuses in Zimbabwe, particularly Mr Mbeki whom he has described as a “letdown”.
Mr Mugabe has consistently accused Archbishop Ncube of siding with the enemy (Britain) and once called him “a Jeremiah prophesising for Joshua Nkomo”, the late leader of Zanu-PF’s rival Zapu party back in the 60s and 70s.