He was bestowed with the honour at a function where Bulawayo mayor, Japhet Ndabeni Ncube, also gave civic honours to the late Carl Paul Pretorius, a renowned soccer referee and Amratbai Desai who gave financial support to parties led by the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo during the liberation struggle.
Karlen, who was the first Archbishop of the Bulawayo diocese in 1994, and his successor, Bishop Pius Ncube, are credited for bringing the killings to the attention of the international community.
The bishops confronted the then Prime Minister, Robert Mugabe with evidence that the Fifth Brigade, a specially trained forces of the fifth brigade deployed in the provinces to fight dissidents’ were carrying out a campaign of torture, rape, starvation and murder against the civilian population.
“Archbishop Karlen was a Bishop in Bulawayo at a time of the disturbances in Matabeleland in the early 80s. He went out of his way and at great personal risk to his own life to assess the situation in Matabeleland North in 1983 and in Matabeleland South in 1984 and to offer help to the beleaguered people in the two provinces,” read the citation for the honours. – Own correspondent
Â
Post published in: News