Churches call Mugabe to order

Zimbabwe's main Christian denominations long regarded as supporting President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF regime have broken their silence and demanded the Zanu-PF leader to urgently get off his high horse and initiate dialogue with dissenting voices, instead of using brute force to silence them.

In a hard-hitting statement after its 39th annual conference in Kadoma last month, the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe said it could not continue being silent while government brutalized its citizens.

The Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) which encompasses the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, Habakkuk Trust, Christian Alliance, Zimbabwe Divine Destiny, Students' Christian Movement of Zimbabwe and Ecumenical Church Leaders' Forum last month also released an equally hard-hitting statement condemning police brutality and violence.