UK: Refugee who escaped kidnapping in Zimbabwe reveals story

By maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk

UNITED KINGDOM: A Zimbabwean refugee living in Langley – who fled abduction during Robert Mugabe’s dictatorship – is urging people to consider the role of religion in helping resolve crises.

Reverend Cliff Shanganya, 54, says he escaped an attempted kidnapping and was wanted by pro-government forces during unrest in east Africa around the turn of the century.

He sought asylum in the United Kingdom in 2007 and – now a British citizen – works full-time as a Methodist church minister in Slough.

He said: “I was fighting for everybody to say ‘no, people should be supported equally regardless of their political affiliation’.

“But that did not go well with the ruling party.”

Zimbabwe – formerly known as Rhodesia – gained independence from Great Britain more than 40 years ago. But it has suffered significant unrest since.

Mugabe was president from 1987 to 2017, for a period characterised by violent suppression and human rights abuses.

Rev Shanganya was a church minister during the late 90s where he ‘witnessed the struggle and the suffering’ of Zimbabweans.

He said the government – in the midst of shutting down a growing political opposition – had begun to withhold food and aid from people who it believed were against it.

Speaking out on the problem, he added, made him a target for pro-Mugabe forces.

He described how one night, his wife saw men outside his house looking for him to ‘take me away’.

“There was now a plan to ensure that they silence me, whether they wanted to take me that night and torture me – that’s what was happening to so many people,” he said. “There were lots of people [being abducted], some of them we still don’t know where they are.”

Rev Shanganya was saved by circumstance, having been stuck at a school in a neighbouring village that night due to a broken car.

The church transferred him to Botswana shortly after.

Unrest in Zimbabwe had, however, spilled over into the wider African region. More and more refugees were crossing borders.

This, Rev Shanganya said, led to Botswana pushing back against immigrants which he spoke out against.

“When I was condemning that I was saying Botswana should not be harsh on Zimbabweans,” he said.

“They should be hard on Mugabe, not the people who are suffering because it’s not their fault.

“That message was seen, and I was in trouble again and wanted in Botswana.”

Rev Shanganya ‘took the courage’ to return to Zimbabwe after more than a decade away – following  Mugabe’s death in 2019 – to urge its new leaders to take more action to help people in need.

His new book, Liberated to Liberate Others, is an investigation of how religion can challenge people to help others.

“A Minister of a church is supposed to be a voice for the voiceless,” said Rev Shanganya.

“That’s why I’ve kept engaging with the government of Zimbabwe to remind them they should be doing more to help people who are struggling.”

Liberated to Liberate Others is officially launched next month and is available to buy from Amazon.