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Catholic diocese sued by Zimbabwe govt
Afrol News (Norway)
March 25, 2004

The Zimbabwean government is pressing charges against the Catholic diocese of Hwange over its alleged involvement in black-market currency exchange. The Catholic Church hierarchy however holds that the reason behind the charges is to be found in the Church's growing opposition to the Mugabe regime. The Hwange diocese was charged this week with involvement in black-market currency exchange. Black-market trading however "has become commonplace" in Zimbabwe, the Catholic newswire 'CWNews' notes in a defence of the diocese, "since the Mugabe government placed strict controls on the use of foreign currency, in a desperate effort to counteract a skyrocketing inflation rate." The ongoing case against the Hwange diocese is only the last in a growing list of institutions charged with illegal currency exchange lately. Also another Catholic institution, the Church-run Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo - Zimbabwe's second largest city - last week was charged with large-scale black market transactions.

For the many institutions established in Zimbabwe having foreign links, using official channels to change the funds received in foreign currencies is a loss operation. Official rates are only a fraction of the real value of the Zimbabwe dollar (Z$), which is established in the black market. Further, keeping larger amounts of Z$ is bound to produce further losses, given the inflation rate of almost 1000 percent. The Harare government and Zimbabwe's Central Bank nevertheless have embarked on a campaign to cripple the ever-growing black exchange market, which is strongly contributing to the country's inflation and the depreciation of the Z$. Also the export of foreign currencies is now strictly supervised and charges are increasingly pressed against violators. According to sources in the Catholic Church, however, the charges against the Hwange diocese for violating currency-exchange laws is politically motivated. President Robert Mugabe is said to have been "at odds with the Catholic hierarchy in Zimbabwe for months, with the bishops persistently criticizing the President's autocratic rule."

The charges are seen as "the latest round of a battle" between the Zimbabwean government and the bishops of the Catholic Church. Earlier this month, Bulawayo archbishop Pius Ncube called on South Africa and the world at large to toughen sanctions against the Mugabe government to cause the President's downfall. "The international community must assist us to force these people," Mr Ncube told the press in South Africa. Catholic Archbishop Ncube, who has yet to comment on the charges against the Hwange diocese, himself holds that the real masterminds of illegal transactions are to be found in the Mugabe government. Mr Ncube earlier this month claimed that religious leaders in Zimbabwe remained divided in their view on the government because President Mugabe - himself a Catholic - had "bought out" many of them. "Mugabe gave them money and farms. He even offered me a farm as part of his evil devices," the Zimbabwean Church leader alleged.

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