The former Bishop of Harare has denounced claims that he is a tool of the US government and an enemy of the regime.

The former Bishop of Harare, the Rt. Rev. Sebastian Bakare, (pictured) has denounced claims in Zimbabwe’s government backed newspapers that he is a tool of the US government and an enemy of the regime. In an interview published on 17 Sept 2015 with NewsDay, Dr. Bakare, rejected charges leveled in the on 13 Sept 2015 by Bulawayo24 — a government radio/television station in the country’s second city — that he was involved in a plot funded by the US Embassy to bring opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and former Vice-President Joice Mujuru together to form a coalition to oust President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party in the 2018 elections. Dr. Bakare, who heads up the nonpartisan National Convergence Platform (NCP) — a civic group that seeks to bring the business, trade union, religious, political and social groups together to engage in a national dialogue on the future of the country — denounced the stories as a smear campaign to derail the NCP. He said the 24 Oct 2015 opening meeting of the NCP would be nonpartisan and invitations would be extended to “ everybody who is concerned at the meltdown of our economy, including all political parties, with no special treatment extended to any.” He added: “To associate me with the American Embassy, which I know may not have a very good rapport or relationship with the government, is trying to say to the nation: ‘This is your bishop associating himself with the enemy of the nation’. I resent this to the very core of my being.” The accusations against him were from those seeking to protect their economic interests at the expense of the nation. “Such kind of maliciousness comes from those who are benefiting from the system that has denied Zimbabweans a peaceful and happy life,” the retired bishop said