Anti-Mugabe sermon lands clergyman into serious trouble.

This sermon was received well by the teachers and students who
were in heavy attendance, nonetheless a war veteran who also works at the
mission reported the matter to a ZANU PF base located about 3km away from
the school leading to the invasion of the mission and the subsequent
abduction of Rev Mhlanga by the ZANU PF militia.             This drew the wrath of students, culminating to a counter raid the following
day at 7pm, students whose majority constituted the upper six visited the
base armed with stones, smelling death the militia temporarily abandoned the
base, not to be outdone they regrouped, organized themselves and raided the
mission again armed with matchets, spears, knobkerries and riffles. This
brutal attack saw 20 students being injured and by the time of going to
print 17 of them were hospitalized at the mission hospital. The number of
those who fled from the school has not yet been verified. Three teachers
were also brutalized in the scuffle, on allegations that they incited
students. In a separate incident soldiers in military regalia today force
marched students into a lecture theatre and addressed them to the effect
that if they do not vote ZANU PF in the presidential runoff this country
will be rocked by a war. With the blessings of the governor and resident
minister an unidentified uniformed general who spoke just after Chiwewe,
promised blood and thunder in the event of an MDC victory. He described MDC
as conduit for regime change agenda and unequivocally stated that it is only
Cde Mugabe who has the capacity to defend this nation from being put under
the impending British domination.     Youth Forum views this as a continuation of state sanctioned violence meant
to cow the electorate into intimidation ahead of the June 26 presidential
runoff by ZANU PF .We salute the brave Chaplain, teachers and students at Mt
Selinda for standing up against all odds for what is good. Democracy will
obviously prevail regardless of the evil efforts by the regime to suppress
it, history buttresses this well. We also fully welcome the intervention of
high school students in this fight for the democratization of this country,
they have proved that it is their country too despite their usual exclusion
from issues of national importance and as Youth Forum we urge all
pro-democratic organizations to consider involving these youths of school
going age in their programmes.      We also condemn the illegal and unnecessary harassment of UK and USA
diplomats at the hands of the state which occurred on Wednesday, the same
day when Morgan Tsvangirai, his deputy Thokozani Khupe and Lovemore Moyo,
the MDC national chairman were arrested and released without a charge. This
shows that ZANU PF is determined to do anything, which facilitates its
illegitimate stay in power, no matter how unethical, immoral, and
illegitimate it maybe. We demand that ZANU PF bases be disbanded for we are
not in a war situation. If ever there is going to be a government of
national unity as suggested in some media circles it must reflect the will
of the people as highlighted by the March 29 harmonised election. Talks for
such a critical national issue must not be restricted to few politicians as
what happened in the so called 1987 unity accord. A government of national
unity at such a time in Zimbabwe will be a bad precedent and a grave
negation of the will of the people as unequivocally stated on the 29th of
March. The opposition, and indeed all Zimbabweans should draw a lesson from
the Unity Accord of 1987 which premised the vanquishing of PF ZAPU and that
is something we know very well will not undo the crisis in Zimbabwe. A
government of national unity will surely perpetuate ZANU PF and continue
with the culture of impunity to perpetrators of human rights violations as
is evidenced in the post-colonial rule of ZANU PF. Sustainable peace and
development can never come out of a government of national unity without
bringing to book all the human rights violators to book.    YOUTH FORUM INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY DESK     Contact: +263 913 014 693, +263 913 022 368