A response to dissident priests in Botswana

Bishop Mwamba of Botswana

A long letter in Mmegi

I am writing this letter to refute some misinformation that appeared in the letter entitled "Who shall save the Anglicans?" which appeared in Mmegi of the 20th November 2008.

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The long and short of what I can say is that this particular clergy was an embarrassment to all of us. We were actually relieved when the Bishop transferred him to Tonota. It should be understood by all and sundry that real Anglicans who are aware of how the Anglican Church is administered and its relations with the Anglican Communion, have never suffered under all the previous Bishops who were non-locals and are not suffering at all under Bishop Trevor Mwamba who is also not a local.

The unanimous vote for him to become Bishop a few years ago is a clear sign that he is loved by most people in this diocese and that he is of the calibre that people want. This new onslaught on his person is a deliberate attempt by a few disgruntled clergy especially the so called "concerned clergy" who thought that Bishop Trevor Mwamba would play to their tune.

More so to suggest that "there is no transparency in the diocese of Botswana, more especially with the use of our money. "We pour hordes of money to the diosces [sic] and we never get feedback" can only be said by someone who does not understand how the Anglican Church functions.

The Diocese as, we know it, has a Treasurer who makes public the financial situation of the diocese every time the Diocesan Standing Committee meets. In fact what we hear from the Standing committee is that many parishes are lagging behind in their assessments including the parish where the writer worships - Tonota.

That in itself makes one wonder where the "hordes of money" are coming from. No wonder there is this rumour that Trevor has stolen P8.8 million. This is a piece of untruth which no sane person should ever take seriously.
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I also need to reiterate what have been said before, that it is false to suggest that the Bishop is "always flying overseas [sic], but he does not visit local parishes". Please note that I speak for our parish here in Francistown.

We have had the Bishop's visitation more than three times this year, and in those visits he has also had time to visit outstations such as Moroka village and Makaleng village. In any case when the Bishop flies out of the Diocese we understand that he will be fulfilling his international responsibilities as a Bishop not only of the Diocese of Botswana but of the Church worldwide.
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As a Motswana, I am not ashamed to inform the nation that the foreign clergy work hard and seem to understand what ministry constitutes as opposed to our own clergy who seem to think that they will suddenly turn to be good clergy when they pull the nationalistic card.

Most of these local clergy are not wanted at all in the places where they are serving because of the despicable things that they have done there. So to cry about the foreign clergy as if Bishop Trevor is the first Bishop to hire foreign clergy is a high sounding nothing to me.

In my view, none of these local clergy qualifies for the high offices which they are clamouring for since most of these are barely three years in ministry, the others have vacillated between the Anglican Church and other churches which makes them armateurs in the Anglican ethos.

More so the others have received no theological training at all, which makes us wonder in this day and age when every Motswana child is going to school and the Government is awarding scholarships to many Batswana to be educated. How will such clergy minister to these children of ours when they return, let alone being their Bishops? To cap it all, people must never be fooled that these clergy told any truth. In fact no matter how we lie, the truth will always come out, even those like the writer of the letter in Mmegi of the 20th November 2008, will realise that s/he has been fooled by these people.

Let me end by saying that Bishop Mwamba is an astute Bishop, who is articulate, honest and hardworking. He is not doing any harm to the Diocese of Botswana. He has never gone to the press to spread lies, he has never gone to the civil court to solve Church matters.
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Faithful Motswana Parishioner
Monthe
FRANCISTOWN

All Here

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It is good that Mmegi has published something other than the account of the dissidents. It still seems to me a shame that there has been no official response.