Zimbabwean Archbishop Pius A Ncube criticises Mugabe

Описание: (10 Jul 2007)
1. Wide of hotel where news conference was held
2. Speakers sitting in front of microphones
3. Cutaway of journalist taking notes
4. Wide of media
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Archbishop Pius Ncube, Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo:
"Mugabe is a man who is a megalomaniac, he loves power, he lives for power. I mean, here is a man who is (84 and by the time he stands for elections) who is 83, by the time he stands for election next year he'll be 84. Even his own party are pleading with him, 'please stand down, you've done enough good.' Well, according to Zanu-PF (Mugabe's party) he's done a lot of good, according to me he's done a lot of evil. He's expended a lot of lives, thousands of lives."
6. Wide of speakers
7. Cutaway of media
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Professor Brian Raftopolous, academic and veteran political analyst:
"The decline in the economy has made Zimbabwe much more vulnerable to outside intervention in the light of any reconstruction, but it is clear that the Zimbabwe is going to need a great deal of assistance from the region, from the international community."
9. Cutaway of speakers
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Archbishop Pius Ncube, Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo:
"And I think Zimbabweans, we are so desperate that we are ready to offer anything to get this man out, because we are in the frying pan right now."
11. Cutaway of reporters
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Archbishop Pius Ncube, Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo:
"I don't know whether he does go to confession, I do understand he goes almost every week to mass and even to holy communion. Well I'm glad that he's not doing that in my diocese. I wouldn't be very keen to give communion to a man who has no respect for human life."
13. Wide pan of news conference
STORYLINE:
A Catholic Archbishop on Tuesday, accused Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe of being a "megalomaniac" who had done "a lot of evil."
Pius Ncube, the Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo, made the criticisms of Mugabe at a news conference in Johannesburg.
"Mugabe is a man who is a megalomaniac, he loves power, he lives for power," Pius told reporters at the launch of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Solidarity Peace Trust's report on the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe.
The archbishop's comments came as Zimbabwe's economy veered closer to the brink with no end in sight to chronic shortages of staple foods and gasoline, and predictions of a standstill in routine business within days.
Police and government inspectors continued cracking down on shopkeepers and sales managers accused of defying orders to slash prices by half in a desperate attempt to halt rampant inflation.
Shelves were bare of cornmeal, bread, meat and other staples, and witnesses said many shops and suppliers were cleaned out by convoys of ruling party supporters coming in after police and inspectors began enforcing the price cuts on June 26.
Factories, stores and gas stations have been unable to replace goods sold at below the original cost.
The sudden drop in prices has sparked panic buying, stampedes and near-riots by impoverished Zimbabweans.
On Monday, the government ordered private commuter buses to cut fares by three-fourths, promising bus owners they would be able to buy subsidised fuel from the state oil procurement agency.
But many ignored the directive and simply abandoned their routes.
Businesses reported higher absenteeism, with workers failing to arrive at their jobs.
Mugabe warned on Friday that the government would target uncooperative managers and seize factories that scaled down their operations.

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