Zim’s ‘bad politics’ causing despair; burdensome tax measures a pain – Catholic Bishops
By Staff Writer
Legacy political disputes coupled with the breakdown of institutions on the back of increased tax burdens on the yoke of citizens has escalated despair and hopelessness which can only be resolved by the maker of the vineyard, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) has said.
The renowned clergymen grouping made the remarks recently in a message to mark the begining of the Catholic Church Lentern season which comes on the back of widening rifts in the ranks and the file of the country’s political establishments due to longstanding legacy disputes.
“The unresolved political contests since the August 2023 elections have not left the country in a good space. Locally, there are fears among people that we are moving towards a one-party State, with democracy dying a slow death.
“Regionally, there remains a belief that we can resolve these political challenges if we are willing to put our heads together as people of goodwill,” said the bishops.
The ZCBC bemoaned the impact of migration highlighting that Zimbabwe continued to suffer from the displacement of families due to the non-performance of the economy.
“The decision by the government to raise taxes at a time when ordinary people can hardly afford a meal a day has worsened the family situation, they said, adding that it had become unbearably expensive for the poor and elderly to live due to a sharp increases in the price of basic commodities,” lamented the bishops.
They said most of the challenges were a result of “bad politics” in a nation which is increasingly divided..
Said the ZCBC ,“Whereas some of these ills are a result of natural disasters, most of them are man-made and are not accidental. Poverty in the world is a direct result of political and economic policies of governments, political parties and big businesses.
“It is a result of policies and systems. In the light of bad politics, failed economic systems and their devastating effects, many people are in despair.”
They said the people felt let down by their leaders and institutions hence they were losing hope.
“It is this loss of hope that can be damning, for as they say, ‘If you have no hope, you have no reason to live.’ It is in a people plunged into despair, a world characterised by the ‘deficit of hope,’ that the Holy Father suggests a year of prayer, that the Synod urges us to continue walking together. Prayer is not an escape from what we see. It is a way of finding solutions to challenges we are grappling with.”
