Anglican Communion News Service

(ENI)Churches in Zimbabwe have appealed to the government to reconsider the economic policies which have caused huge rises in the prices of basic commodities, provoking three days of riots and looting.

The price rises are caused partly by policies which the Zimbabwean government has been forced to adopt to win economic support from international financial institutions. But churches also blamed government mismanagement.

According to news reports, four people have been killed, and many people, including women and children, have been injured in battles between the police and civilians. About 800 people have been arrested in townships close to the capital, Harare. The government said the army, which is helping the police to stop the rioting, was not under specific instructions to shoot, but would be carrying live ammunition. "If necessary, the full force of the law will be applied," President Robert Mugabe told local journalists. Soldiers in armoured tanks are now patrolling the townships, and the entire army is on alert in case the situation deteriorates further.

"We as Christian leaders are concerned about the current state of the nation, the breakdown of law and order, and the suffering of the masses brought about by the harsh economic climate for which government must take full responsibility," four prominent church leaders said in a statement dated 21 January.

"As church leaders we can no longer stand by and watch the nation self-destruct," said Canon Philemon Mudzvovera of the Anglican Church, Bishop Ezekiel Guti of Zimbabwe Assemblies of God (Africa), Gary Strong of Compassion Ministries and Ngwiza Mnkandla of Faith Ministries.

"When we have to deploy our armed forces in civilian territory, when we see the innocent being slain in our streets, and when life, limb and property lose sacredness, we are compelled to speak out. We see that there are serious underlying causes behind the crisis that the government can no longer blame others for or cover cosmetically. We appeal to the government to take full responsibility for this situation," the church leaders said.