Bishop Abel Muzorewa - obit

[Steve Hayes]

Bishop Abel Muzorewa
Methodist priest who served as prime minister of the
short-lived Republic of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia


Cameron Duodu
guardian.co.uk, Monday 12 April 2010 18.31 BST


Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the former prime minister of the
short-lived Republic of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, who has died aged
84, was a religious leader and an unlikely politician. His
ambition, he said, had been to do "what Mandela did in South
Africa - achieve a political resolution of his country's
problems without bloodshed". Alas, he failed.

When Ian Smith declared unilateral independence (UDI) in
Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, shockwaves ran across black
Africa. With Britain paralysed by the fear of the prime
minister, Harold Wilson, that any troops sent to quell the
rebellion would refuse to fire on their "kith and kin", it
was expected that Smith would be allowed to get away with
it. In Ghana, the president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, began to
recruit more men into the army, with the intention of
ferrying them secretly to newly independent Zambia, and
thence into Rhodesia.

The plan came to nothing, but Nkrumah had seared the
Rhodesian issue into the consciousness of the more
progressive military officers. They were scandalised that
whereas in Kenya, the far less serious Mau Mau uprising had
been ruthlessly crushed, Rhodesia was "rewarded" for its
rebellion with talks between Wilson and Smith, on HMS Tiger
(1966) and HMS Fearless (1968).

When, in 1972, Britain sent the Pearce Commission to
Rhodesia to sample opinion on whether the black population
would accept independence without majority rule, Africans
feared that the British would rig the "referendum", to
kowtow to Smith.

At this stage, an obscure Methodist priest called Bishop
Abel Muzorewa entered the fray and organised the black
population to meet the Pearce Commission members with noisy
demonstrations and placards, declaiming "NO! NO! NO!" It
worked, and the commission went home and reported that the
proposed settlement with Smith was impossible.

Muzorewa was credited with the success of the "no" campaign,
and Smith went after him, forcing him into exile in
Mozambique. He returned home, to be welcomed by 100,000
people, when the British proposed an all-Zimbabwean
independence conference, to be held in Geneva in October
1976. By now, Muzorewa's United African National Council
(UANC) had expanded to contain some heavyweights in the
independence struggle, including James Chikerema, George
Nyandoro and the future chief justice of Zimbabwe Enoch
Dumbutshena. So, when Muzorewa appealed to Ghana for funds,
the then military leader, General Kutu Acheampong, not only
responded generously, but also deputed a senior Ghanaian
judge, Robert Hayfron-Benjamin, to be the UANC's
constitutional adviser, with myself as the delegation's
media relations officer.

Once in Geneva, however, I discover- ed that Muzorewa's hold
on his organisation was tenuous. There was a lot of
dithering, with decisions being taken and reversed with
frequency. After the failure of the Geneva conference,
Acheampong brought all the Rhodesian leaders to Accra to try
to get them to form a unified group.

It was a useless exercise. Muzorewa spent most of the time
in my house, listening to records of the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir that he had brought with him. My four-year-old son sat
at his side, playing with his shoes.

Eventually, Muzorewa struck out on his own, and reached an
"internal settlement" with Smith in 1978, under which
Muzorewa became prime minister. But the move could not stop
the guerrilla warfare. Nor was the deal recognised by the
United Nations. Sanctions on Rhodesia continued. Meanwhile,
Muzo- rewa became tainted as an opportunist and a sell-out.
The "internal settlement" was seen off, in fact, by the
Lancaster House conference, called in London in December
1979, at which agreement was reached on Rhodesia's legal
independence. In the elections that followed in 1980, Robert
Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) won hands
down. Muzorewa's party got only three seats. That
effectively sealed his political fate.

Muzorewa was born at Umtali (now Mutare) in eastern
Rhodesia. He was a premature baby and would not have
survived but for the ministrations of a Swedish nurse. The
eldest child in a Christian family of nine, he was educated
at a village mission school and at the Old Umtali Methodist
boarding school.

At the age of 19 Muzorewa started work as a teacher and
later studied at seminaries in both Rhodesia and the US,
where he took a master's degree at Scarritt College for
Christian Workers in Nashville, Tennessee. Back home in
1953, he began to preach and also engaged in political work.
He became the first black bishop of his church in 1958.

While still at theological school, Muzorewa was married, in
1951, to Maggie Chigodora, with whom he had five children.
She and one of their children predeceased him. He is
survived by three sons and a daughter.

. Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa, priest and statesman, born 14
April 1925; died 8 April 2010

[old man joe]

Post by Steve Hayes
Bishop Abel Muzorewa
Methodist priest who served as prime minister of the
short-lived Republic of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia

Methodist ? Agnes Ozman, Methodist tongue talker. a woman speaking out loud in the formal
congregation thinking she was getting messages from God, though messages from God ended with the
death of the last apostle. women aren't allowed by God to speak in a formal congregation according
to the Bible... but what's that to idol worshiper's ?

Post by Steve Hayes
Cameron Duodu
guardian.co.uk, Monday 12 April 2010 18.31 BST
Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the former prime minister of the
short-lived Republic of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, who has died aged
84, was a religious leader and an unlikely politician. His
ambition, he said, had been to do "what Mandela did in South
Africa - achieve a political resolution of his country's
problems without bloodshed". Alas, he failed.
When Ian Smith declared unilateral independence (UDI) in
Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, shockwaves ran across black
Africa. With Britain paralysed by the fear of the prime
minister, Harold Wilson, that any troops sent to quell the
rebellion would refuse to fire on their "kith and kin", it
was expected that Smith would be allowed to get away with
it. In Ghana, the president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, began to
recruit more men into the army, with the intention of
ferrying them secretly to newly independent Zambia, and
thence into Rhodesia.
The plan came to nothing, but Nkrumah had seared the
Rhodesian issue into the consciousness of the more
progressive military officers. They were scandalised that
whereas in Kenya, the far less serious Mau Mau uprising had
been ruthlessly crushed, Rhodesia was "rewarded" for its
rebellion with talks between Wilson and Smith, on HMS Tiger
(1966) and HMS Fearless (1968).
When, in 1972, Britain sent the Pearce Commission to
Rhodesia to sample opinion on whether the black population
would accept independence without majority rule, Africans
feared that the British would rig the "referendum", to
kowtow to Smith.
At this stage, an obscure Methodist priest called Bishop
Abel Muzorewa entered the fray and organised the black
population to meet the Pearce Commission members with noisy
demonstrations and placards, declaiming "NO! NO! NO!" It
worked, and the commission went home and reported that the
proposed settlement with Smith was impossible.
Muzorewa was credited with the success of the "no" campaign,
and Smith went after him, forcing him into exile in
Mozambique. He returned home, to be welcomed by 100,000
people, when the British proposed an all-Zimbabwean
independence conference, to be held in Geneva in October
1976. By now, Muzorewa's United African National Council
(UANC) had expanded to contain some heavyweights in the
independence struggle, including James Chikerema, George
Nyandoro and the future chief justice of Zimbabwe Enoch
Dumbutshena. So, when Muzorewa appealed to Ghana for funds,
the then military leader, General Kutu Acheampong, not only
responded generously, but also deputed a senior Ghanaian
judge, Robert Hayfron-Benjamin, to be the UANC's
constitutional adviser, with myself as the delegation's
media relations officer.
Once in Geneva, however, I discover- ed that Muzorewa's hold
on his organisation was tenuous. There was a lot of
dithering, with decisions being taken and reversed with
frequency. After the failure of the Geneva conference,
Acheampong brought all the Rhodesian leaders to Accra to try
to get them to form a unified group.
It was a useless exercise. Muzorewa spent most of the time
in my house, listening to records of the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir that he had brought with him. My four-year-old son sat
at his side, playing with his shoes.
Eventually, Muzorewa struck out on his own, and reached an
"internal settlement" with Smith in 1978, under which
Muzorewa became prime minister. But the move could not stop
the guerrilla warfare. Nor was the deal recognised by the
United Nations. Sanctions on Rhodesia continued. Meanwhile,
Muzo- rewa became tainted as an opportunist and a sell-out.
The "internal settlement" was seen off, in fact, by the
Lancaster House conference, called in London in December
1979, at which agreement was reached on Rhodesia's legal
independence. In the elections that followed in 1980, Robert
Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) won hands
down. Muzorewa's party got only three seats. That
effectively sealed his political fate.
Muzorewa was born at Umtali (now Mutare) in eastern
Rhodesia. He was a premature baby and would not have
survived but for the ministrations of a Swedish nurse. The
eldest child in a Christian family of nine, he was educated
at a village mission school and at the Old Umtali Methodist
boarding school.
At the age of 19 Muzorewa started work as a teacher and
later studied at seminaries in both Rhodesia and the US,
where he took a master's degree at Scarritt College for
Christian Workers in Nashville, Tennessee. Back home in
1953, he began to preach and also engaged in political work.
He became the first black bishop of his church in 1958.
While still at theological school, Muzorewa was married, in
1951, to Maggie Chigodora, with whom he had five children.
She and one of their children predeceased him. He is
survived by three sons and a daughter.
. Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa, priest and statesman, born 14
April 1925; died 8 April 2010