Mutambara MDC move to shield Archbishop Ncube

Ncube pictured in bed

18 July 2007

By Never Kadungure

Officials from the faction of the opposition MDC led by Arthur Mutambara gathered in Bulawayo on Wednesday to discuss the crisis engulfing Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube. The meeting was attended by church leaders and former Defence Minister Enos Nkala, now a member of the Patriotic Union of Matabeleland (PUMA).

The Archbishop is facing allegations that he had an affair with 'married' secretary Rosemary Sibanda and 'husband' Onesimus has filed a Z$20 billion lawsuit claiming among other things loss of companionship and contumelia. Confusing matters is that he had already remarried during the time of the alleged affair.

Ncube's lawyer Nicholas Matonsi has already warned the state media to stop using pictures allegedly showing the Archbishop in a compromising position with various women. Matonsi warned that if they persisted he would seek an injuction in the Bulawayo High Court blocking the continued use of the pictures and film. On Wednesday evening the state broadcaster (ZBC) continued to use the images despite the threat.

Responding to the scandal, Paul Themba Nyathi an official in the Mutambara MDC told Voice of America's Studio 7 news that regardless of whether or not the Archbishop has done what he is accused of, it was clear he had been set up. Mugabe's government was keen on discrediting Ncube because of his harsh criticism. A new school of thought is however developing suggesting the Archbishop should not be shielded from scrutiny merely because he is a critic of Mugabe.

Quite interesting is the fact that the MDC led by Tsvangirai has kept out of the scandal. A source who spoke to Nehanda Radio said relations between the MDC leader and Pius Ncube were not exactly cordial. 'Pius is very outspoken as you know but when he started having a go at Tsvangirai for not leading from the front, a lot of people thought he was out of line. Tsvangirai has the scars to show for his bravery in the past two decades, whereas Ncube simply talks the talk without walking it. Now unfortunately for Ncube he has been caught pants down literally.'

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