Zimbabwe Vigil Diary 27th March 2010

A special hymn-singing and prayer Vigil is to be held outside the Zimbabwe Embassy from 12.30 – 2 pm on Easter Sunday in solidarity with Anglican worshippers in Harare locked out of St Mary’s Cathedral because of the power struggle involving former Bishop Kunonga, a Mugabe crony and farm beneficiary. 

The special Vigil is being supported by London’s Southwark Cathedral, which has a long-standing relationship with the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, St Martin-in-the-Fields, which is our local church, and the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The Vigil will be attended by Bishop Michael Doe who has recently returned from Zimbabwe. He will speak (at 1 pm) about his experiences celebrating the Eucharist in a ditch. 

Vigil management team member Sue Toft hosted the interim Harare Bishop Sebastian Bakare when he visited the UK two years ago. Sue was interviewed by Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network News and drew attention to Bishop Sebastian’s recent appeal for Christian solidarity in Zimbabwe. The Bishop said he had approached other churches to use their buildings only to realise that our brother and sisterhood does not go beyond our denominational boundaries.

Other points

• It poured down with rain on the last of our winter Vigils. Now that British summertime is in force the evenings will be much lighter though we are puzzled that winter seems to have stayed so long.
• Vigil supporters were not surprised by the desperate kicking of the Zanu-PF donkey against President Zuma’s current facilitation attempt. It is the moment of truth for South Africa. They will have to force Mugabe to comply with the GPA.
• Notable milestone today was the sale of the 1,000^th of our hessian bags labelled Working for a new Zimbabwe www.zimvigil.co.uk. All profits from the sale of these bags have gone to help our work. Thanks to Caroline Witts who has brought them all the way from Exeter, Devon (170 miles from London) for the last 2 years.
• We note that our Swazi friends have stirred up things in Mbabane. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Lutfo Dlamini apparently said the demonstrators at the Swazi Vigil in London had never even been to Swaziland. Well how well informed he must be! The minister said the demonstrators were being organised by a faction calling themselves ACTSA. This is Action for Southern Africa which succeeded the Anti-Apartheid Movement! The Minister was responding to a question by the Matsanjeni South MP Oedusizi Ndlovu who said he feared being manhandled by angry demonstrators in London who were saying a lot of bad things about the country. According to this report the Minister said that the demonstrators in London are not even British or Swazi but a hired group from an African country who are paid to speak bad things about this country. He reassured everyone we are working on the issue and have a plan in place. 

For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. For the latest ZimVigil TV programme provided by ZBN News, check the link at the top of the home page of our website.  For earlier ZimVigil TV programmes check:  http://www.zbnnews.com/home/firingline.

FOR THE RECORD: 171signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

• BATSIRA PARTY. Friday 2^nd April. Venue: Jasmins Club, Upper Tooting Road, London SW17 7TG. Fundraiser for ACTSA’s Dignity Period Campaign organised by University of Westminister students. Tickets: £15. Raffles of donated prizes including a Samsung Plasma TV. For more information, contact: Zeyn Mitson, Tel: 07950 507 866, email: [email protected], [email protected], facebook: Zeyn Kassam.
• ROHR Liverpool Demonstration. Saturday 3^rd April from 2 -5 pm. Venue: Church Street (Outside Primark) Liverpool City Centre. Contact: Desire Chimuka 07917733711, Anywhere Mungoyo 07939913688, Trywell Migeri 07956083758. Future demonstrations all on Saturdays: 17^th April, 8^th and 22^nd May. Same venue and time.
• Prayer Vigil for Zimbabwe. Sunday 4^th April (Easter Day). Time 12.30- 2 pm. Venue: outside the Zimbabwe Embassy. Praying and singing in solidarity with worshippers who are going to be locked out of the Anglican Cathedral in Harare on Easter Day. 
• ROHR Liverpool general meeting. Saturday 10th April 2010 from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Fairfield Police Club, Prescot Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, L7 0JD. T-shirts available for  £10.00. New members are very welcome. Contact: Desire Chimuka 07917733711, Anywhere Mungoyo 07939913688, Patrick Kushonga 07900857605, Trywell Migeri 07956083758
• Swaziland Vigil. Saturdays from 10 am -1 pm. Venue: Swazi High Commission, 20 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LB.  Please support our Swazi friends. Nearest stations: St James Park and Victoria. For more information check: www.swazilandvigil.co.uk.
• Zimbabwe Association Women’s Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am-4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355 (open Tuesdays and Thursdays).
• Strategic Internship for Zimbabweans organised by Citizens for Sanctuary which is trying to secure work placements for qualified Zimbabweans with refugee status or asylum seekers. For information: http://www.citizensforsanctuary.org.uk/pages/Strategic.html or contact: [email protected].
• For Motherland ENT’s videos of the Vigil on 30/01/2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeI4ve
  Vo0H0 and the Vigil on 26/12/2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdPsBsief0s and http://www.
  youtube.com/watch?v=nX6sv2T9gwk&feature=related. 

Vigil Co-ordinators

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair electikikons are held in Zimbabwe: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.