|
|
|
|
|
« Return
|
|
Zimbabwean Anglican bishop banned in US
2002-085-5
4/4/2002
|
[Episcopal News Service]
The Anglican bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, has been named in a list of Zimbabweans banned from the United States.
Kunonga, who once praised President Robert Mugabe as being more Christian than himself, joins more than two dozen of the president's influential associates and supporters of Mugabe's Zanu-PF political party in being prohibited from visiting the US because of their support for the president. Mugabe has also been banned.
The list, which includes high-level military and government officials, was leaked to the news media earlier this week. In addition to the entry prohibition, those listed will find their assets in the US frozen. Immediate family members are also affected by the ban.
Kunonga's pronouncements from the pulpit and elsewhere have divided Anglicans, many of whom see him as condoning violence committed by Zanu-PF supporters against opponents.
In January, the bishop invited criticism when he took over an inter-denominational prayer meeting and gospel concert in Harare and turned it into a forum for promoting the government's controversial land reform program.
Under this program, the government is taking over commercial farms, mostly owned by whites, and turning them over to blacks.
Kunonga endorsed Mugabe in last month's presidential election and told guests at Mugabe's inauguration ceremony on March 17 that the 78-year-old ruler was ordained by God to lead this southern African nation. He dismissed Mugabe's critics as 'little voices shouting at a passing elephant.'
Zimbabwe's presidential elections were characterized by many local and international observers as violent and fundamentally 'flawed.' Zimbabwe's minister for information and publicity, Jonathan Moyo, brushed off the significance of the US travel ban. In a statement last week, Moyo said that the sanctions list had 'no substantive policy content beyond the racist hatred of Africans who are proud of their history, dignity, sovereignty and independence.'
But Pius Ncube, the outspoken Roman Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, saw the presence of Bishop Kunonga on the list as a message for other church leaders.
'This is a warning to church leaders that we should not take an overly partisan stand as we are representatives of God's kingdom,' the archbishop told ENI.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Bakare, Anglican bishop in Mutare, distanced the church from the situation: 'If [Kunonga] is banned because of his personal opinion what has that got to do with us as a church?'
Kunonga's office said the bishop was out of the country and unavailable for comment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
