1.
GV: demonstrators outside UANC headquarters, Salisbury.
0.05

2.
CU PAN: demonstrators holding placards "without Hove, UANC Pull out", and others
0.24

3.
GV: demonstrators marching singing.
0.43

4.
GV AND SV: church
0.48

5.
SV: Bride and groom after wedding, ZOOM INTO Bishop Abel Muzorewa in background.
1.02

6.
CU: St. Mark, United Methodist Church plaque.
1.04

7.
CU: Bishop Muzorewa speaking in English to reporters.
2.42


REPORTER: "Is there a possibility that you may resign from the government, then?"



MUZOREWA: "I want to say that this is going through the minds of a good number of (indistinct) officials, including myself. But we are going to be very objective about it, and tomorrow will be a very crucial day for us, in other words, a day of decision."



REPORTER: "Has unity been smashed by this particular move?"



MUZOREWA:"I believe that this particular move has complicated a lot of things. It is raising a lot of suspicions, suspicion in the minds the UANC and myself about whether or not there is a plot to, shall I say, shoot the UANC down (indistinct)."



REPORTER:"Do you think this government can still work?"



MUZOREWA:"Well, I can assure you that, if my party should decide to withdraw from the transitional government,.....I don't want to sound as if I am threatening anybody, but I think it would be very chaotic. This is, of course, one reason why my party will weigh every move we take to see whether it would be good for the country......"



Bishop Muzorewa said he was not at the executive council meeting at which Mr Hove was sacked. However, the two other Black nationalist leaders on the council, The Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole, and Chief Justice jeremiah Chirau, were reported to have said he was there and he had agreed to the move. The fourth council member, Prime Minister Ian Smith made no immediate comment. On Sunday (30 April) the government ordered the Zimbabwe Times, a daily paper mainly for Blacks, to restrict its coverage of the Hove controversy.




Initials RH/1975



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In Rhodesia, the Black nationalist leader, Bishop Abel Muzorewa, said in Salisbury on Saturday (29 April) that he and other members of his United African National Council (UANC) had retirement from the new multi-racial administration on their minds. The crises came about when Mr Byron Hove, a UANC member, was sacked; he had shared the portfolio of Justice and Law and Order. Mr Hove had allegedly refused to with draw strong statements he had made that Rhodesia's judiciary and police should be reconstructed. After an emergency meeting on sunday (30 April) Bishop Muzorewa said his party would demand Mr Hove's re-instatement, but UANC was still reviewing a decision whether to remain in the interim government.

SYNOPSIS: On Saturday, an estimated 250 members of UANC demonstrated outside their party building in Salisbury, some with placards declaring slogans such as 'Without Hove, UANC Pull-out' and 'UANC Can't Tolerate Hove Expulsion'. Police closely watched the demonstration, but there were no reports of scuffles or violence.

Mr Hove had shared the portfolio with White minister Hilary Squires for just two weeks. His comments, made soon after he took office, triggered heavy criticism from the White population, and he was dismissed last Friday (28 April). After four hours of marching, chanting and singing, the demonstrators went home.

The same day, Bishop Muzorewa was interviewed at a wedding in Salisbury. An official statement had said the four-man governing council of the interim government had acted together on Mr Hove's dismissal. But Bishop Muzorewa insisted he had no hand in the Executive Council's decision to remove the minister.