From The Christian Century:
On June 6 a former volunteer geography instructor at the United Methodist-related Africa University in Mutare was deported following his arrest for filming police as they demolished the shacks in that city, according to United Methodist News Service.
The news service identified him as Howard S. Gilman, 68, a member of a United Methodist church in Montgomery, Maryland. According to news reports abroad, Gilman spent ten days in jail and could have been imprisoned for a longer time for illegally photographing police discharging their duties. Instead he was fined for violating censorship laws and overstaying his visa.
"We are deeply saddened by the situation," said Andra Stevens, information director for Africa University, which last month gave degrees to 391 graduates from 14 African nations. Gilman, who ended his association with the campus last August, also "gave help to marginalized people in Zimbabwe, particularly orphans."
Zimbabwe's economy has shrunk 50 percent in the past five years and the unemployment rate is estimated to be 70 percent. Agriculture, which once made Zimbabwe the breadbasket of Africa, has collapsed since autocratic president Robert Mugabe, 81, began a controversial program of seizing white-owned farms and turning them over to blacks.
Since the country's March 31 parliamentary elections, the economy has been in a free fall, leaving store shelves empty.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
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