Pius Ncube Cleric

Pius Alick Mvundla Ncube (born 31 December 1946) served as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, until he resigned on 11 September 2007. Widely known for his human rights advocacy, Ncube is an outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe.Archbishop Ncube received a Human Rights Award from Human Rights First on 23 October 2003 for speaking out against torture and confronting the Mugabe government for starving certain regions of Zimbabwe for political reasons. He has received many death threats for his activities. He is a member of Zimbabwe's minority Ndebele ethnic group.Previous elections in Zimbabwe have been plagued with violence and corruption. Believing that the 2005 Zimbabwe parliamentary elections would be fixed, Ncube called for a "popular mass uprising" in the style of the Orange Revolution or Tulip Revolution to remove Mugabe from power. "I hope people get so disillusioned that they really organise against this government and kick him out by non-violent popular mass uprising," Ncube said.In response, Mugabe has called Ncube a half-wit and a liar. After the March 2005 elections, Ncube repeated his call for a peaceful rebellion. Referring to Mugabe, he said "I am praying that he goes home gently; at 84, he has lived a full life."In March 2005 Information Minister Nathan Shamuyarira referred to Ncube as a "mad, inveterate liar. He has been lying for the past two years. He, however, fits into the scheme of the British and Americans, who are calling for regime change and are feeding him with these wild ideas. Archbishop Ncube's open call for an unconstitutional uprising shows he is an instrument of the West's illegal regime change agenda."