Opposition leaders call for Mugabe to leave

....
Daniel Moyo | 16 Apr 2007
World Politics Watch Exclusive

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe -- At a meeting held in a Catholic church here Saturday, dissident and Christian leaders from Zimbabwe and around Africa called for the removal of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's 83-year-old president, and urged the country's people to unite and fight for their rights.

The prayer meeting was organized by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a coalition of churches, students, labor groups and opposition political parties that is fighting for democracy in Zimbabwe....


Saturday's prayer meeting, which was attended by more than 1,000 people, including opposition politicians , civic leaders and clergymen from Malawi and South Africa, went ahead without any incident despite earlier fears that police would disrupt proceedings.

At the meeting, Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube accused Mugabe of lacking sympathy for suffering Zimbabweans, saying he should be peacefully removed from power.

"This leadership has lost its focus and every aspect of the economy has gone down due to a lack of care by the leadership," said Ncube. "The bread and butter issues that they were elected for have also deteriorated. The health system and education sector have all also declined due to mismanagement of the country by the ruling elite. As churches, we should all unite and remove these unjust leaders from further ruining our country." ...


Speaker after speaker, including the MDC's Thokozani Khupe, ZAPU-FP leader Paul Siwela and other civic leaders, took a swipe at Mugabe for bringing down the country's once strong economy through mismanagement and corruption.
...