British church leaders urge Southern Africa countries to ‘redouble’ efforts to ensure fair elections in Zimbabwe
20 June 2008 - 5:37pm — Sarah Hall
In a joint letter, twelve senior British church leaders have called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to "redouble" its efforts to ensure fair elections in Zimbabwe, where people are due to vote on 27 June in a second round to elect a president.
Since December 2007, churches and agencies in Britain with partners or projects in Zimbabwe have been meeting at a Roundtable to take counsel on how they might best work together in support of their partners. The joint letter is a fruit of their discussions.
Writing to President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, who is president of SADC, the church leaders express their, "grave concerns about the deteriorating situation" in Zimbabwe, where violence and killings have followed the first round of presidential elections in March.
The church leaders tell President Mwanawasa, "All credible reports indicate that this is a deliberate campaign being perpetrated by militia groups aligned to the ruling party against suspected opposition party supporters and those who worked as election observers or election officials on polling day. We are concerned that there have also been attacks perpetrated inside churches."
The signatories add, "We respectfully request SADC to redouble its efforts to assist Zimbabweans to end the violence and intimidation and ensure that Zimbabwe abides by the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections."
The signatories of the joint letter, whose individual Churches or organisations have partners in Zimbabwe, are (alphabetically by church/organisation):
Baptist Union of Great Britain
The Revd Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain
Church of England
The Most Revd John Sentamu, Archbishop of York
The Rt Revd Michael Nazir Ali, Bishop of Rochester
The Rt Revd Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark
The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon
The Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Woolwich
The Rt Revd Richard Cheetham, Bishop of Kingston
Church of Scotland
The Rt Revd David Lunan, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Evangelical Alliance
The Revd Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance
Methodist Church
The Revd Martyn Atkins, President of the Conference of the Methodist Church in Britain
Roman Catholic Church
The Rt Revd Crispian Hollis, Bishop of Portsmouth
United Reformed Church
The Revd Stephen Orchard, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church
Since December 2007, churches and agencies in Britain with partners or projects in Zimbabwe have been meeting at a Roundtable to take counsel on how they might best work together in support of their partners. The joint letter is a fruit of their discussions.
Writing to President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, who is president of SADC, the church leaders express their, "grave concerns about the deteriorating situation" in Zimbabwe, where violence and killings have followed the first round of presidential elections in March.
The church leaders tell President Mwanawasa, "All credible reports indicate that this is a deliberate campaign being perpetrated by militia groups aligned to the ruling party against suspected opposition party supporters and those who worked as election observers or election officials on polling day. We are concerned that there have also been attacks perpetrated inside churches."
The signatories add, "We respectfully request SADC to redouble its efforts to assist Zimbabweans to end the violence and intimidation and ensure that Zimbabwe abides by the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections."
The signatories of the joint letter, whose individual Churches or organisations have partners in Zimbabwe, are (alphabetically by church/organisation):
Baptist Union of Great Britain
The Revd Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain
Church of England
The Most Revd John Sentamu, Archbishop of York
The Rt Revd Michael Nazir Ali, Bishop of Rochester
The Rt Revd Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark
The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon
The Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Woolwich
The Rt Revd Richard Cheetham, Bishop of Kingston
Church of Scotland
The Rt Revd David Lunan, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Evangelical Alliance
The Revd Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance
Methodist Church
The Revd Martyn Atkins, President of the Conference of the Methodist Church in Britain
Roman Catholic Church
The Rt Revd Crispian Hollis, Bishop of Portsmouth
United Reformed Church
The Revd Stephen Orchard, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church
