Politicians and clergy rekindle old rivalries

By John Mwazemba

In 2005, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, confessed to the world that he had been busy praying for President Robert Mugabe to die. Completely fed up with one of his parishioner’s many sins, the good archbishop asked God to kill Mugabe in order to end the suffering of Zimbabweans.

Another clergyman who believed the death of a head of state would be for the greater good of society was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lived under Hitler’s cruel hand. He paid the ultimate price. In April 9, 1945, the 39-year-old German Lutheran pastor was led naked to the gallows at Flossenb¸rg concentration camp in Bavaria.

The theologian, writer and poet Dietrich was hanged by Hitler on that day because of: "belonging to an organisation which helped a group of Jews to escape from Nazi Germany to Switzerland.".

Though Dietrich and Ncube’s cases could be extreme, they demonstrate the length the clergy can go to involve themselves in the politics of a country. Men of the cloth have rebuked governments and upbraided kings.

It is no longer taboo to mix religion and politics. As Yasmin Alibhai-Brown writes, when he first went to the UK, religion and politics were "volatile subjects that brought on unseemly quarrels which were inappropriate at dinner tables and social occasions. In England, it just was not the done thing. Once in a while, if anyone forgot and wandered into these areas, hostesses would skilfully steer them back to safer subjects. Politicians avoided God in their speeches, and the godly kept well away from politics, except when they were trying to remind people about the poor.

Today, everybody is talking about God in almost everything.

There are many who believe politicians should keep off the affairs of the Church and the clergy should in turn keep of the affairs of the State. The Kenyan clergy — if what has been happening of late is anything to go by — believes Church and State are inseparable. And they are driving politicians crazy for invading their turf.

A few weeks ago, the clergy opened a can of worms when they blasted the President and Prime Minister in a public function he was attending. When he stood up to speak, the President threw away his gentle and quiet mien of taking all criticism in stride and fired a canon right back.

Since then, politicians have fired zingers at the clergy and asked them to keep off making "overly" critical remarks but the clergy have dug in. It is now an all-out verbal war between politicians and the clergy in classic Muhammad Ali style; it’s full-scale blitzkrieg, our own version of a rugged rumble in the jungle. And this time, it’s the clergy that seems to be "stinging like a bee".

What is worrying is, as the clergy and politicians exchange swords, the noise level is growing to irritating decibels and it will be good if they could look for a forum to hear each other out.

It’s clear, however, that our politicians were caught off guard. They have fumbled in their response to the clergy’s criticism. On the other hand, the clergy seems to be united.

During the election campaigns and the post-election crisis, the clergy seemed to have been caught in the web of tribal divisions and politics and lost its voice. Everyone, with exception of a few, seemed to have retreated into their tribal cocoons. Recently, however, the clergy seems to have found its voice and they are now loud and clear.

There is something beautiful about someone who stands boldly to speak his or her convictions and what they believe should be done, especially when speaking to the high and mighty.

Whether the clergy is right or wrong to criticise the Government at this time is not the issue. The fact is, at least for once, in a very long time, we are hearing the clergy take on the Government.

One of the saddest things that can happen in any country, methinks, is when the clergy and other religious leaders speak like the Government Spokesman. We should hear alternative voices, even of criticism. That is what democracy is about.

[email protected]