Zimbabwe churches try to broker national dialogue

A bloody security crackdown on protesters last month has added to the instability in the African nation.

A national dialogue prayer breakfast was held in the capital Harare on Thursday.

Rev Dr Kenneth Mtata, general secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) attended and told Premier he left feeling hopeful.

Speaking during the News Hour, he said: “I think we have come out of a very difficult time but there is a sense that the nation seeks to converge in a direction that is solution orientated.”

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has claimed that the death toll following an army crackdown in the country has risen to 17.

State security forces launched the crackdown after protests erupted on 17th January, which were sparked by protests against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s announcement of massive fuel hikes.

  
 
The breakfast was organised by various church bodies including the ZCC, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe and the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe Africa.

Rev Dr Kenneth wrote on Twitter: “We had dialogue in 1979, and a new Zimbabwe was born. We had dialogue in 1987, and had the Unity Accord. Had dialogue in 2009, and got a government of national unity. We had a wide engagement in 2013, and got a new constitution.

“Though…