By Stephen Brown
Harare, 14 December (ENI)--A group of Zimbabwean Christians have denounced "poverty, ill-health, bad governance, corruption, fear and hopelessness" in this southern African country.

The criticisms, unusually strong in a country where vocal public dissent is rare, were made in the Zimbabwean Kairos Document, published just before the start of the eighth assembly of the World Council of Churches. The document, which has been in preparation since 1996, was produced by Ecumenical Support Services, a Christian non-governmental organisation based in Zimbabwe which is often more progressive and independent than Zimbabwe's mainstream churches.

Kairos is a Greek word used in the Bible to refer to "an opportunity for repentance and a change of heart, for change and for decisive action with the oppressed in a time of crisis". An earlier "Kairos" document - drawn up in 1985 by Christians campaigning against apartheid in neighbouring South Africa - became a major rallying point for opponents of white rule.

According to the Zimbabwe document, the nation has been plunged into a "political, economic, and, above all, moral crisis that is shaking its very foundation". It claims that the "old Soviet Union-style single party system" is "alive in Zimbabwe" where all power to initiate laws is placed "in the tightly controlled party leadership, politburo and central committee". Although the country is in theory a multi-party democracy, the document points out that only three members of parliament do not belong to President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU (PF) party.

"Despite our hopes and expectations [at independence and the end of white minority rule] in 1980, today we find new black political and economic elites, which have replaced the old colonial elites within the same structures."

The document also criticises Zimbabwe's churches, stating that while some churches "have constantly challenged injustice, both before and after independence, many have failed to educate their members about abuses of power by authorities".

"In this sense, the churches share responsibility for the fear of authority that has gripped us."

The document contains trenchant criticism of the record of President Mugabe's ruling ZANU (PF) party, claiming that:
 thousands of hectares of land have been taken by government and given to senior ministers and officials while peasants on communal land can barely eke out an existence;
 in January 1998 the government used "tanks and bullets" against unarmed people protesting against huge increases in food prices. The government action caused deaths and injuries;
 ZANU (PF) is a "ruling party with a disproportionate access to financial support, control of both electronic and print media, dishonest registration and ballotting procedures, coercion and violence";
 people are afraid to criticise those who hold power as "harassment, disappearances, arrests, brutality and even death [are] inflicted on those courageous enough to ask rational questions against mistakes made by the powerful political elite";
 key laws limiting civil liberties such as the Official Secrets Act and Law and Order Act have "changed little since they were enacted by the racist Smith regime [which unilaterally declared independence in 1965 and ruled the country until 1979 in the face of international sanctions] against which our people fought so bravely. These acts remain repressive now as then."

The document also expressed concern about Zimbabwe's economy, pointing out that according to the United Nations Development Programme, "inequality in Zimbabwe is one of the worst in the world. The richest 20 power cent of the country's population use up 46.9 per cent of all expenditure, the poorest 10 per cent [of the population] only 1.8 per cent."

The Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) introduced under pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank has benefitted the "big multi-national companies and the political elite ... at the expense of the poor and marginalised".

Jonah Gokova, the coordinator of ESS, told ENI during the WCC's eighth assembly which ended on 14 December, that the document was intended to encourage debate among Christians and as a "guideline for those who want to engage in prophetic action in Zimbabwe".

But he stressed that the document was "not political in the sense that we have ambitions to contest political power".

"That is not our intention, but rather to get Christians to reflect on their situation and propose solutions to that situation," Gokova said.

The Zimbabwean Kairos Document was not only a response to the political situation in Zimbabwe, but also to the economic system which "marginalised many people in Zimbabwe", where 62 per cent of people were living below the poverty line, Gokova said.

Asked about parallels between the original South African Kairos document and the Zimbabwean document, Gokova said: "The apartheid system produced its own crisis, there were certain injustices that Christians had to respond to, and here in Zimbabwe we are also talking about certain injustices. The origin of the injustices might be different, but we have injustices here that as Christians we have to respond to."

Since the original Kairos document was published in South Africa, similar documents have been published in other parts of the world. In 1988 Christians in Central America drew up a Kairos Document strongly critical of US policies in the region. A European Kairos Document was published this year. However, the Zimbabwean document, according to Gokova, "is the first Kairos document produced in a post-independent situation, in Africa".

He hoped that people involved in the Kairos movement in other parts of the would "listen to what we are saying, perhaps also share their insights. Some of the problems we are talking about are actually as a result of globalisation, so we cannot solve these problems in isolation." [935 words]

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