Let the voiceless speak

MadPriest has reprinted the whole of the previous post.  

So maybe Anglican Information is showing a way forwards - even small voices in the Anglican firmament can get a hearing.   What is needed is  persistance, a cause and a platform.

Or, more cynically, perhaps smaller voices can get a hearing if they chime with the terms of dispute as conducted in N0rth America - and only if they do.

However I think (hope) that another theme is increasing visible.  Anglican Information's tag-line "a voice for the voiceless" is significant.  See, as anoth example, the recent comment on the post "A curious corner of the Church of Nigeria"   

The content is different but the message is the same as from Malawi and Zimbabwe: bishops should be held to high standards of probity and the clergy and laity of a diocese have the right to call their bishops to account.

At the moment public opinion is the only arena of accountability and public opinion won't unseat a bishop.  Commentators have to be anonymous. Therefore their comments cannot be tested and can be ignored.  But perhaps the day will come when there are real consequences for individuals who abuse the protection and security that purple robes currently offer.

Why should the clergy and people be voiceless?  Why should anonymity be felt necessary?  Both show, I think, a fundamental structural and moral flaw in Anglicanism: that all power lies with the leaders and none with with the led.

A strong whiff of hypocrisy in the Central African Province? We are of sound faith! A riposte from the General Secretary of the M.C.U.

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION: We have quite often needed to point out that the reason given for the failure of a Court of Confirmation, held in November 2005, to confirm the Rev’d Dr. Nicholas Henderson, a onetime General Secretary of a theological society known as the Modern Churchpeople’s Union, as the duly elected Bishop of Lake Malawi, was that he was by virtue of that position of ‘unsound faith’.

The Rev'd Jonathan Clatworthy

This accusation, made under the chairmanship of the then Archbishop of Central Africa Bernard Malango and backed enthusiastically by Nolbert Kunonga and Elson Jakezi the now excommunicated former bishops of Harare and Manicaland has subsequently brought into the picture Bishop James Tengatenga of South Malawi and Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana.

Tengatenga is one of the International editorial team of the MCU journal ‘Modern Believing’* and Trevor Mwamba was a principal speaker at the M.C.U. 2008 pre Lambeth Conference held in Hertfordshire, U.K. In July last year.**

*A copy of the latest Modern Believing showing Tengatenga’s name is available on our website:
www.anglican-information-archive.org

** For details of this see http://www.modchurchunion.org/Events/Conference/2008/Conference2008.htm

Readers will be able to observe the hypocrisy of the bishops of the Central African Province in allowing this deceit to go on. Now we discover that whilst he was Principal of the Bishop Gaul Theological College in Harare the newly consecrated Bishop of Harare accepted the then Journal of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union as recommended reading.

Despite this the bishops have continued to brand Dr. Henderson as being of ‘unsound faith’, resisted all calls by the people of Lake Malawi to have the Court of Confirmation independently examined by a Provincial Court and now are trying to force an election for a new bishop who by definition cannot have a mandate when the existing bishop-elect’s case is still extant.

We have been requested to publish the letter below from the present General Secretary of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union who has written to defend the Union against the unwarranted accusations levelled at what is the Anglican Communion’s oldest theological society and one of its most prestigious.

---

From: The Rev’d Jonathan Clatworthy
General Secretary
Modern Churchpeople’s Union

I am writing on behalf of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union, which is often mentioned in your most informative emails because of the rather absurd claim by former Archbishop Bernard Malango, Nolbert Kunonga and some others that the Rev Dr. Nicholas Henderson was ‘of unsound faith’ because of his work with us.

The Modern Churchpeople’s Union was founded in 1898 to support what was then considered the ‘liberal’ cause, defending the traditional openness of the Anglican tradition against the fundamentalist tide of the time. The two main issues were the relationship of religion to science (especially the theory of evolution) and the implications for Christian doctrine of new research into the Bible. Typical questions were the reliability of the histories in the Bible (the dates don’t always add up), the differing accounts of Jesus in the four gospels, and how to explain the miracles.

By the end of the 1920s we were generally seen to have won the arguments. More recently, however, there has been a revival of fundamentalism, heavily supported by large amounts of money from the USA. It is motivated by a Calvinist view of the Church. Calvin taught that the Bible as a whole was God’s supreme revelation to all people, written in such a way that anyone with true Christian faith would be able to understand the meaning of every text. This belief never worked well in practice because honest Christians have always disagreed about the meanings of texts; even Calvin had to modify his view. Nevertheless many Calvinist churches have taken the view that all true Christians should be in agreement on all matters of doctrine; and this conviction has generated countless splits, as differences of opinion have resulted in mutual denunciation. Anglicans who inherit this tradition today usually call themselves ‘conservative evangelicals’.

The Modern Churchpeople’s Union appeals to the very different character of the Church of England in the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, when there was a greater emphasis on reason in the interpretation of Scripture and tradition. To reaffirm reason is to recognise that we can learn from each other, so it is better for all Christians to belong to the same church and express our disagreements within it, recognising that none of us are infallible.

What has this got to do with homosexuality? It seems that the Calvinist lobby was hoping to take over the leadership of Anglicanism, especially in North America. Because they usually disagree with each other, homosexuality provided an issue which, they thought, would unite all evangelicals behind them. In Europe and North America, attitudes to homosexuality have become more tolerant over the last generation, and this seemed their opportunity to defend ‘biblical morality’. Unfortunately for them, the authors of the Bible were no more interested in homosexuality than most people today are. There are very few biblical texts which even mention it. On the other hand the Bible contains many hundreds of commands to which nobody today pays any attention; conservative evangelicals in Europe and North America would be horrified if, for example, there was any serious attempt to enforce the many biblical texts forbidding lending money at interest, or mandating capital punishment for people who worship any god other than the God of Israel.

It seems to us that the sectarian ‘conservative’ lobby misuses the Bible by reading its own obsessions into it. They have also misused African Anglicans in a similar way: knowing that Africans are generally hostile to homosexuality they want their support but have no desire to pay any attention to what Africans believe on any other matter. At the same time this lobby has become increasingly schismatic and has sought to drag African provinces out of communion with Canterbury.

So the Modern Churchpeople’s Union, on behalf of good, well-informed theology, seeks to respect what the Bible says, through learning what the authors intended to convey, rather than just looking for texts to support what we wanted to believe on other grounds. When it comes to moral issues like homosexuality, we believe they should be debated on their own merits, not used as opportunities to divide Christians and break up the Anglican Communion. We thank God for giving us a living tradition with new insights and challenges, and intelligent minds capable of reflecting on the questions of the day in the light of Scripture and learning from each other.

Jonathan Clatworthy
General Secretary
Modern Churchpeople's Union
9 Westward View
Liverpool L17 7EE, UK
0151 727 6291/0845 345 1908
jonathan@clatworthy.org
www.modchurchunion.org

Want to have your say?

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ANGLICAN-INFORMATION

Press and net comment on Chad Gandiya's consecration

The Bishop of Harare, Chad Gandiya, with his family after his consecration

Congratulations (if that's the right word) to Bishop Chad Gandiya on his consecration and enthronement as Bishop of Harare.  He will undoubtedly need all the prayers, help and cash that can be raised.

The Herald's report is here, curiously neutral in its comments on both the consecration and the opposition from Kunonga.  New Zimbabawe begins optimistically, but then gives more space to Kunonga's comments.

An Ecumenical News International press release is carried by the (Canadian) Anglican Journal.

The earlier stage of Kunonga's attempt to prevent the consecration is briefly reported by The Sunday Mail and Nehanda Radio.

The visit of Peter Price, Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Archbishop of Canterbury's representative, is noted here (before he set off).

And Anglican Information's accounts seem to be getting more publicity for the Central African Province, not least through the Episcopal Cafe with its considerable readership.

BISHOP CHAD GANDIYA'S CONSECRATION & ENTHRONEMENT

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION
‘A voice for the voiceless of the Anglican Central African Province’

Bishop Chad Gandiya receives his mitre after his consecration

We have received several eyewitness reports of the consecration and enthronement of the Rev’d Canon Dr. Chad Gandiya

as the new Bishop of Harare, Zimbabwe.

We have gathered these reports together below

in an account of the occasion

– Bishop Nolbert Kunonga's influence is on the wane

Sunday 26th July 2009 truly was "a day that the Lord has made!". The parishes from all over the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) flocked in their thousands, despite the chilly weather and attempts by Dr Kunonga to have the enthronement stopped, to the City Sports Centre - the scene last year of Bishop Bakare's enthronement. The stadium was full to capacity and great enthusiasm in the Holy Spirit was very evident, about 10,000 people were present with many in Mother’s Union uniforms (The Mothers’ Union is a powerful and influential organisation in Africa).

The organization was magnificent. A stage had been set up with an altar and the chairs for the Dean of the Province Bishop Chama and the other bishops and priests assisting with the service. The space in front of the altar where it all happened was a bit narrow so that when
the Bishop Elect lay prostrate during the Litany (the liturgy of the Central African Province is high anglo-catholic in nature) his feet were dangerously near the edge!

On either side of the stage were four large arrangements of chrysanthemums and one in the centre on the floor. A red carpet led down the central aisle and across in front of the stage flanked by stands with bowls of orange and yellow flowers with a similar arrangement at the foot of each stands. The playing area had rows of chairs with white chairs being reserved for the dignitaries and Bishop Chad Gandiya and the two bishops who would assist him. The priests and servers sat behind the stage with the choir to their left. All the seats were taken up with the different congregations and people also stood in the entrance way. There were teams of ushers, some selling the Order of the Service and others guiding people to their seats. The choir comprising members from different parishes was in full voice accompanied by drums and rattles.

The service started around 9:00 am with the procession of servers, subdeacons, clergy, archdeacons, vicar generals and the dean of the cathedral. The second procession led by servers with the Registrars and Chancellors and Ecumenical guests. The third procession comprised the servers, bishops from the Anglican Communion, Bishops of the Province, the Vicar General Bishop Bakare and Bishop Elect Chad Gandiya, the Emeritus Archbishop of the Province the most Reverend Dr Walter Khotso Makhulu and the Dean of the Province Bishop Chama.

The acting Dean, the Right Reverend Dr Sebastian Bakare welcomed the congregation, the visiting guests from the Province and the Anglican Communion and dignitaries present. The Holy Communion Service then commenced. The Old Testament reading was from Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 100 and the New Testament reading from 2 Corinthians 4:1-10. The gospel reading was from John 21:15-17 followed by the anthem"Here I am Lord." The Sermon was preached by the Emeritus Archbishop the most Reverend Dr Walter Khotso Makhulu with interpretation into Shona by the Dean of the cathedral. The Nicene Creed was sung in Shona.

The ordination of the Bishop-Elect Chad Nicholas Gandiya proceeded with the congregation responding accordingly. The Dean of the Province then gave the Charge and asked the Questions to which the Bishop Elect replied with the words "With God's help I will" to all the questions and the congregation singing at the end "I say yes, yes Lord..." followed by the Veni Creator sung in Shona and the ordination with all the bishops gathered around him. He was then presented with the Bible, cross, ring, mitre and staff. After this there was a fanfare of musical instruments with the congregation clapping and ululating for a minute. The Peace was then passed with the congregation milling around to pass the peace to family, friends and fellow parishioners. This was a time of real joy for everyone present. After the consecration the new Bishop was presented with his cross, ring, mitre, and staff. The congregation greeted each with clapping, but the longest and loudest cheer was for the mitre. No turning back now.

The Dean then continued with the Eucharist. Each parish had contributed wafers, wine and brought their chalices. The bishops and visiting ecumenical guests received first and then the priests and servers. A priest, a server and a member of the Mother's Union then proceeded to each of the bays and the congregation received communion by intent. This went extremely smoothly. The choir were the last to receive as they were singing throughout the giving and receiving of communion.

Prior to the Blessing Bishop Bakare called for messages of solidarity to be read. The first message was from the Archbishop of Canterbury read on his behalf. Bishop Michael Gear a former parish priest of St Mary Magdalene, Avondale Parish read greetings from Rochester Diocese. There were messages from the Secretary of USPG, the American Episcopal Church and others all wishing Bishop Chad every success in the shepherding of his new flock.

The service ended with the words "Go in Peace to love and serve the Lord "and the response from the congregation.

Lunch followed for the guests and dignitaries in two tents pitched behind the stadium-again extremely well organised. The parishioners then wended their way some on foot, others in cars or buses to the cathedral for the Installation at 2:30pm. This had not been publicised probably to prevent crowds trying to attend, or possibly because disruption from Dr Kunonga was
feared. Nevertheless, the cathedral was packed as well as the cloisters with a loud speaker through to the congregation assembled there. The cathedral doors had been barred (by the Kunonga faction) with large chains and lock blocks fitted but these were removed by the locksmith and the people were able to enter the cathedral and cloisters in peace. Some of the flowers from the stadium had been brought into the cathedral and placed around the font. The bells were ringing as we entered the cathedral- a most joyous and welcome sound.

The Installation proceeded with the Bishop knocking on the door three times before it was opened. The clergy and bishops then processed down the aisle while the congregation sang in Shona "Guide me, oh though Great Redeemer". The readings were from Jeremiah 8:18-22 and 2 Corinthians 5:11-2. Greetings and expression of loyalty was given by the priests from the diocese, and the bishops. Prior to the new bishop giving his Charge his daughter sang "There is a balm in Gilead." His Charge reflected on these words and the balm that is present in Harare. He said his prayer was that the Anglican Church should be the
physician for the healing of the diocese, the city and the country. Afterwards various presents were given. Faith, Bishop Chad’s wife, somewhat nonplussed, was called out from the congregation to sit in front of the altar receiving gifts from the Mothers'
Unions of other dioceses on their knees at her feet. The service concluded with Bishop Gandiya blessing the City and Diocese.

Then over five hundred people attended a reception for Bishop Gandiya at Caroline Wilderness just outside Harare to conclude a most moving day and unforgettable day.

The Diocese of Harare (CPCA) has been blessed with the attention to his flock, vision, humility and passion of Bishop Sebastian Bakare. We are really grateful for all that he has done for us in the time that he has been in the invidious position of interim bishop. We wish him and his wife Ruth who has been a mother to the diocese every blessing as they return to their home and lives in Mutare. Thank you Bishop Sebastian, makorokoto and amhlope. May the Lord continue to bless and guide you both.

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ANGLICAN-INFORMATION

A tale of two dioceses, Harare and Lake Malawi – two different perspectives on the concept of justice

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION
‘A voice for the voiceless in the Anglican Central African Province’
www.anglican-information-archive.org

The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson

Zimbabwe and Malawi are two different countries with the ecclesiastical commonality of the Church of the Province of Central African (C.P.C.A.). They also have in common a quest for justice particularly on the part of an increasingly influential lay voice.

In the Diocese of Harare, Zimbabwe: In the City Sports Centre on Saturday 25th July a huge congregation numbering perhaps 10,000 people witnessed the consecration of the Rev’d Canon Dr. Chad Gandiya as Bishop of Harare. Principal consecrator was the acting Dean of the Province, Bishop Albert Chama who is currently Bishop of Northern Zambia.

As reported by us, renegade and now excommunicated, Nolbert Kunonga former Bishop of Harare, who has hitherto claimed jurisdiction over the diocese and who still holds diocesan property and accounts, is slowly losing his grip on his former diocese.

High Court judge Justice Ben Hlatshwayo had granted an application by Kunonga to stop the consecration of Chad Gandiya. This in turn had been appealed against with an application to the Supreme Court by the official diocese and the consecration went ahead followed by an enthronement in the Cathedral Church of St Mary & All Saints. Such defiance of Kunonga would hardly have been possible as recently as some months ago without extreme violence by Kunonga state-backed thugs.

The thirteen bishops (four of them white) who assisted in the consecration can be seen by the people to be upholders of justice, stalwarts in the faith and supporters of the liberal–minded new Bishop Gandiya.

Meanwhile northwards in the Diocese of Lake Malawi: The bishops are seen in an altogether different mould. Here also the pernicious influence of Kunonga lingers on after the notorious Court of Confirmation of November 2005 declared the elected Bishop of Lake Malawi, the Rev’d Dr. Nicholas Henderson, to have been of ‘unsound faith’. Excommunicated Kunonga and his episcopal colleague Elson Jakazi of Manicaland joined forces with now retired Bishop Bernard Malango to play a card that has subsequently, by implication, also condemned Bishops James Tengatenga of South Malawi and Trevor Mwamba of Botswana for their ‘unsound faith’ as a result of their links with a theological society known as ‘the Modern Churchpeople’s Union’.

The M.C.U. an ancient and venerable Anglican organisation headquartered in the U.K. and dedicated to theological study, sometimes of a quite dry and impenetrable kind, was deemed to have committed the crime of liberal thought. The impetus for such an odd accusation came from Malango’s close connections with breakaway American factions in the Episcopal Church. The charge of ‘unsound faith’ was deeply resented as a contrived travesty of justice and truth by the people of the Diocese of Lake Malawi.

To paraphrase Bishop Trevor Mwamba speaking subsequently to the press and media, ‘I don’t see why Africans should fight proxy wars for North Americans … we have more important things to do’.

For four long years a powerful House of Laity in the Diocese of Lake Malawi has demanded that the Court of Confirmation that condemned Henderson be re-assessed by an independent Provincial Court. Despite this, the very same bishops who have taken the honourable course in Zimbabwe have refused (presumably because of their fear that irregularities might found out) to do so in Lake Malawi.

Thus, on Saturday 1st August what is effectively a forced election for another bishop will take place in Lilongwe at the same time as the election for a bishop of North Malawi. Unsurprisingly, a number of Lake Malawi clergy have petitioned their parishes to put their names forward. The latest ‘hat in the ring’ is that of The Rev’d Joseph Kaswanyando onetime chaplain to the late bishop Peter Nyanja and parish priest of St Thomas’s, Lilongwe. Kaswanyando is currently studying at the University of Malawi as a U.S.P.G. scholar.

Of the known Lake Malawi candidates so far at least two of them have been enrolled on sabbatical study leave with current bishop-elect Henderson when he and the late Bishop Nyanja offered regular opportunities for study and international ministerial experience for diocesan priests in Henderson’s London parishes. Whether this will deem those who went on these coveted and professionally led study courses are now deemed to be of ‘unsound faith’ is uncertain.

The bishops are now determined on new candidates for Lake Malawi and North Malawi, almost at any cost, even that of their own credibility. We will keep you posted but clearly as our motto states we are pleased to remain a voice for the laity and justice in the much-troubled Church of the Province of Central Africa.

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION

Please note that we are now carrying the latest July edition of the Diocese of Harare newsletter and supplement on our website – navigate to the The inside view – for access

Nolbert Kunonga running scared?

ANGLICAN INFORMATION

‘A voice for the voiceless in the Anglican Central African Province’
www.anglican-information-archive.org

Nolbert Kunonga

Is Nolbert Kunonga beginning to run scared
in the Anglican Diocese of Harare, Zimbabwe?

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION have been asked to publish a detailed analysis of the past and current situation in the Diocese of Harare, Zimbabwe. Written by Deputy Chancellor Bob Stumbles it is copied below. The situation is serious with trouble threatened from Kunonga as the diocese prepares to consecrate and enthrone its new Bishop the Rev’d Canon Dr. Chad Gandiya. Nevertheless, read the article carefully as we think that there are covert signs that Kunonga is weakening? - we hope and pray that this is the case.

.........................................................................................

KUNONGA ADMITS HE WAS WRONG, BUT……..

Dr. Kunonga, excommunicated and estranged from the Anglican Communion worldwide, and those associated with him in breaking all ties with the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) appear to have accepted that it was not lawfully possible to withdraw the Anglican Diocese of Harare from the CPCA. In other words, Dr Kunonga recognizes the Diocese has, at all times, been part and parcel of the CPCA, despite his vociferous statements and actions over the past two years when he illegally laid claim to its property.


A DEMAND

However, Dr Kunonga insists that, on this basis, he has all along been, and continues to be, the incumbent Anglican bishop with the Diocese under his command. He ignores the fact he and all his associates, clergy and laity, are no longer recognized as Anglicans and are held to be parties to a schism from the Anglican Church. He submits that there can only be one bishop in the diocese and he is it. In what he believes to be a generous compromise he is prepared to turn the clock back to the 4th August 2007, reconcile with and forgive all those who have been against him, and forget all that has happened since that date.

SYNOD, 4TH AUGUST 2007

What happened on, and since, the 4th August 2007? A Synod of the Diocese of Harare commenced on that date. The Agenda paper, notices of motion and reports are by law to be sent to members of Synod at least 18 days in advance of Synod. This did not happen. Members were only given these as they arrived on the opening day. They had been unaware of the contents and therefore were deprived of the fundamental right to discuss them with their constituents and prepare themselves to deal with the contents.

One of the Notices of Motion was that, “the Diocese of Harare does not recognise homosexuality as an acceptable Christian norm and hence does not recognise marriages from such relationships.” That was the entire wording. Nothing more. As this has been the stance of the CPCA in terms of a 1969 resolution and therefore of the Diocese for the last 40 years, there was no apparent sense or reason in passing such a resolution. Indeed, in The Herald of the 15th September 2007, Dr Kunonga himself made reference to the 1969 resolution of the CPCA with approval. But there seemed to be a hidden agenda in more than one sense. What was a non-issue was turned by certain Synod members, allegedly close to Dr Kunonga, who as bishop at the time was President of Synod, into an issue of excessive importance, to the considerable surprise of the majority of members. These persons determinedly pressed for wording which changed the intent and purport of the motion into something unrecognizable and forced this through a somewhat stunned Synod, many of the members not voting. The motion did not, and could not, have given Dr Kunonga any authority to sever Diocesan links with the CPCA as this would be unconstitutional and Dr Kunonga would be breaking his oath of canonical obedience (as he now accepts).

ACT OF SCHISM

Yet Dr Kunonga, without authority from Synod, did precisely this. In a letter of the 21st September 2007, he on his own behalf and on behalf of “the whole Church in the Diocese” categorically wrote that with immediate effect -

“We are withdrawing from the Church of the Province of Central Africa “.

He took this step on the pretext that homosexuality was a seriously insurmountable and divisive issue between the Diocese and the CPCA. As, in fact, it is not a disputed issue, some people hinted that it might have been used to fulfil a personal agenda to break away from the CPCA and to impress a particular audience and to enable Dr Kunonga to elevate himself to the position of Archbishop at the helm of his own organisation.

CPCA ACCEPTS KUNONGA’S PERSONAL WITHDRAWAL

In reply, the CPCA addressed a letter to Dr Kunonga accepting that he personally, and some of his supporters, by notice of his letter and other statements and behaviour had severed their relationship with, and withdrawn from, the CPCA from the 21st September 2007. Dr Kunonga was no longer bishop nor an Anglican and his licence as a clergyman in the Anglican Communion was automatically revoked. His act of schism was notified to the Anglican Communion worldwide. The Diocese of Harare continues to form part of the CPCA and Dr Kunonga is no longer authorised or permitted to have any authority or control over the Diocese, nor to represent it in any way, nor to use the funds and assets of the Diocese. He was ordered to hand over all the assets to the new CPCA representative.

All of this was agreed upon by all the bishops throughout the CPCA (Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe). A letter dated 20th December 2007 signed by the Bishops confirmed all the steps taken by the CPCA since the 21st September of that year.

DEFIANCE BY KUNONGA

Pursuing his plan, Dr Kunonga held an Extraordinary Synod on the 20th October 2007. It did not comply with the laws of the Diocese. This proved he had set off on his unilateral declaration of independence. It was announced there had been a severance from the CPCA. It was falsely stated that those who left a province took the church property with them. It was reported that Dr Kunonga and his supporters would now align themselves with other ecclesiastical provinces in Africa, such as Kenya.

In defiance of the order of the CPCA, Dr Kunonga and his accomplices subsequently refused to relinquish possession of the churches in the Diocese to Bishop Sebastian Bakare who had been appointed Vicar General and Acting Bishop of the Diocese on the 7th November 2007. (To avoid confusion in terminology the Diocese of Harare was now called the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) to show it was still part of the Province).

Dr Kunonga and the likes of Harry Rinashe, Morris Brown Gwedegwe, Caxton Mabhoyi, Alfred Munyani and Barnabus Machingauta, campaigned strenuously to prevent the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) from carrying out pastoral and administrative work. These persons appeared to embark upon or organise a systematic operation of threats, bullying, intimidation, even causing clergy and laity to be beaten and blocking their access to worship in the churches. They were known to call in the police on occasions to assist them.

COURT ORDER

The High Court, recognizing the existence of a schism, ordered that until the Diocesan property dispute had been settled, Bishop Sebastian Bakare’s Diocese of Harare (CPCA) and the Kunonga breakaway group should share access to the churches for church services. The property dispute has yet to be set down by the Court for a hearing.

Again, acting in defiance, Dr Kunonga ignored the court order. He and his accomplices increased the level of violence and continued to purge and persecute the huge number of clergy and laity who remained loyal to the CPCA. He also freely used funds for his own purposes which should have been under the control of the Diocese of Harare (CPCA).

KUNONGA’S PLAN FULFILLED

The plan of Dr Kunonga came sharply into focus. While relentlessly carrying on punitive activities contrary to the orders and rights of the CPCA and its people, he and his accomplices were preparing for the formation of a new Province to be controlled by him. Then it happened on the 15th March 2008. In an article in The Sunday Mail, March 16 – 22, 2008, news burst into the public domain that Dr Kunonga had formed his own church. He declared himself Archbishop of this organisation. He appointed as bishops subservient to him his closest accomplices – Harry Rinashe, Morris Brown Gwedegwe, Caxton Mabhoyi, Alfred Munyani and Brian Mhembere. A retired bishop from the Diocese of Manicaland, Elijah Masuko assisted Dr Kunonga in this exercise. Every one of these persons had been defrocked and were no longer Anglicans, let alone priests in the worldwide communion. But this did not concern them. Their mission to establish their very own institution had been accomplished. All that was now required was to forge links with other ecclesiastical provinces in Africa. And they would keep all the property belonging to the CPCA as their own and continue to persecute those who challenged their right to the assets of the Diocese.

THE AFTER EFFECTS

On the 12th May 2008, Dr Kunonga was declared excommunicated from the CPCA and the Anglican Communion worldwide.
The Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (including Kenya) intimated they disapproved of the actions of Dr Kunonga. They had written on the 4th March 2009 to the President and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe to inform them that the Council does not recognise the status of Norbert Kunonga, nor that of Elson Jakazi (who, like Dr Kunonga has ignored orders from the CPCA and been defrocked as bishop and priest and is not an Anglican) as bishops within the Anglican Communion and the Council calls for the full restoration of Anglican property (in the Dioceses of Harare and Manicaland) to the Church of the Province of Central Africa. Furthermore, the Council acknowledged that Bishop Sebastian Bakare and Bishop Peter Hatendi were the legitimate bishops of the Dioceses of Harare and Manicaland respectively.

UNREPENTANT

The present secretary of Dr Kunonga, Admire Chisanga, as recently as the 19th February 2009, addressed a letter to all parishes. In it he alleges a group of persons described as the Board of Trustees (of the Diocese) in existence prior to the schism (i.e. prior to the 4th August 2007) under the chairmanship of Dr Kunonga, had just passed a resolution concerning Diocesan property. It calls upon all parishes to agree in writing within 7 days that the parish is legally bound to recognise the authority of that “Board of Trustees” to control the property of the Diocese including the right of that “Board” to call on any person or body to deliver that property to the “Trustees”. The resolution goes on to warn each parish that if confirmation is not received within 7 days, the “Board” will take legal action to enforce its rights.

APPLICATION TO STOP ENTHRONEMENT OF DR GANDAYA

The Diocese of Harare (CPCA) arranged for an Elective Assembly to be held, followed by a Court of Confirmation, to elect a bishop and confirm the election. The Court of Confirmation was held on the 2nd June 2009. Dr Chad Gandiya emerged as the bishop elect to take over from Bishop Sebastian Bakare. The consecration and enthronement will be held on the 26th July 2009. Retired Archbishop, the Most Revd. Walter Paul Khotso Makhulu will officiate.

Dr Kunonga has filed an application on behalf of “The Diocesan Trustees for the Diocese of Harare” for an order preventing the Consecration/ordination from taking place. Dr Kunonga is the chairman of this group of “Trustees” who came into office after the 4th August 2007. They are: Dr Kunonga as chairman, Beaven Michael Gundu, Justin M Nyazika, P Majokwere, Onias Gatatwa, Alfred Tome and Winter Reggie Shamuyarira. The application, according to the affidavit, has been brought on the advice of James Mutizwa, Dr Kunonga’s registrar. It is alleged the CPCA is acting in bad faith by proceeding with the consecration of a new bishop, completely disregarding the fact that “I am still the Bishop of Harare” writes Dr Kunonga.

Yet he is archbishop of his own institution which has no connection whatsoever with the Diocese of Harare as constituted by the CPCA. He and the persons abovementioned are not members of the Board of Trustees of the Diocese of Harare (CPCA). Dr Kunonga has been excommunicated and is no longer an Anglican bishop and all of his followers and office bearers are no longer recognized as Anglicans nor members of the CPCA. They have no rights to the property and assets of the Diocese of Harare. These rights are vested in the CPCA. The applicants in this court application have no locus standi. Indeed, the consecration and ordination is purely an in-house matter with which no outsider can interfere. It is submitted the Courts have no jurisdiction to deal with the matter. Dr. Chad Gandiya is being consecrated as a bishop of the Anglican Church worldwide.

OVERTURE BY C.P.C.A.

In view of the acts, statements and behaviour of Dr Kunonga and his followers since the 4th August 2007, the CPCA cannot accept that it is reasonable to sweep everything under the carpet as suggested by him. Nor can they comprehend why he should wish to return to an organisation he has strenuously tainted with the brush of homosexuality (an allegation without foundation it must be said). Taking into consideration his change of position, namely, his acceptance that it was never canonically nor constitutionally possible to withdraw the Diocese of Harare from the Church of the Province of Central Africa, the Dean of the Province, subject to the approval of the Episcopal Synod, has submitted the following suggestions:-

Dr Kunonga should immediately –

1. Write to the CPCA accepting he has erred in trying to withdraw the Diocese
from the CPCA and acknowledging the Diocesan property and assets are
ultimately owned by the CPCA; and

2. unconditionally restore and account for all the Church’s assets of whatever
nature in the Diocese and the monies used since the 21st September 2007; and

3. withdraw all court actions of whatever nature instigated by him or any associate
against the CPCA or the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) or any of its parishes or
supporters of the CPCA.

Once 1,2 and 3 have been fulfilled satisfactorily and completely, the Episcopal Synod will convene to determine what steps should be taken by it concerning Dr Kunonga and his associates including the opportunity to appear and make their case before such Synod or any other tribunal approved by the Episcopal Synod.

R. A. STUMBLES
Deputy Chancellor, C.P.C.A

23rd July 2009

ANGLICAN INFORMATION

A new Archbishop for the Anglican Central African Province?

A new Archbishop for the Anglican Central African Province?

James Tengatenga

Posted by Anglican Information
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION
‘A voice for the voiceless in Central Africa’
www.anglican-information-archive.org

The Anglican Central African Province has been without an Archbishop for several years since the retirement of Bishop Bernard Malango. The Canons of the Province only allow for the Bishops to elect a new Archbishop from amongst their number when all sees in Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe are filled. In the meantime Bishop Albert Chama of Northern Zambia has acted as Dean.

After the forthcoming elections for the dioceses of North Malawi and Lake Malawi scheduled to take place on Saturday 1st August in Lilongwe, the capital city the position of Archbishop for this troubled Province will be filled.

The proposed elections to the two remaining dioceses have attracted some criticism. The priests and people of North Malawi have complained that an election for their new bishop is to take place outside their diocese. In both North Malawi and Lake Malawi there are complaints that Bishop James Tengatenga of South Malawi and Albert Chama are trying to argue that candidates from previous elections may not stand.

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION observes that there is no restriction in the canons on previous candidates standing again and there are a number of precedents of priests re-presenting themselves in elections over a period of many years. If bishops Tengatenga and Chama are serious about attempting to exclude candidates they are exceeding their authority.

North Malawi: The controversial Very Rev’d Scott Wilson formerly of Fort Worth diocese in the Episcopal Church of the United States has withdrawn his candidacy. Although he was runner-up to former Bishop Christopher Boyle (now retired to England) Wilson has left the Episcopal Church and actively joined a new breakaway faction in the United States known as ACNA (Anglican Church of North America). This has a very doubtful status in the Anglican Communion or with Canterbury. Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana pointed out only last week that Wilson would not be able to subscribe to Canon 6 of the Provincial Canons as he is not in a Province in communion with Canterbury.

Lake Malawi: Declared candidates so far include the Rev’d Francis Kaulanda, Archdeacon of Lilongwe, the Rev’d Paul Banda, Army Chaplain and the Rev’d Henry M’baya currently working in South Africa.

The Diocese of Lake Malawi represents a particularly difficult case as many consider that it already has a validly elected Bishop in the person of London based priest the Rev’d Dr. Nicholas Henderson. An overwhelming majority elected Henderson bishop in July 2005 and consequently it will be difficult for any new candidates to establish an authentic mandate.

The people of Lake Malawi have fought for the last four years to have the Court of Confirmation that declared Henderson to be of ‘unsound faith’ independently examined and overturned. In November 2005 under then Archbishop Bernard Malango and with a House of Bishops including the notorious and now excommunicated Nolbert Kunonga and Elson Jakazi both of Zimbabwe, Henderson was declared of ‘unsound faith’ because of his one time membership of an academic theological society known as M.C.U. or the Modern Churchpeople’s Union.

Later developments were to reveal that Bishop James Tengatenga of South Malawi was then (and still is) on the international editorship team of Modern Believing the quarterly Journal of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union. Additionally, Bishop Trevor Mwamba was a principal speaker at the 2008 Modern Churchpeople’s Union pre-Lambeth Conference in Hertfordshire, England.

The next Provincial Archbishop? Bishop James Tengatenga was earlier this year in Jamaica elected as chair of the Anglican Consultative Council. This Council is one of the four ‘instruments’ of the Anglican Communion and is highly influential. In this role and in the Central African Province he is now in the ascendancy and must be a serious contender for the Archbishopric.

The Modern Churchpeople’s Union, has had a number of Bishop members over the years and currently has the Bishop of Lincoln as its President. It is the Anglican Communion’s oldest Theological Society being founded in 1898.

Nevertheless, if and when his peers elect him, James Tengatenga will become the first Archbishop associate member of the M.C.U. and will continue as a result to make a major contribution to theological thinking in today’s Anglican Communion.

Anglican Information

Every picture tells a story

Washing clothes in Zimbabwe. From Sokwanele

Constitutional progress and prayer in Zimbabwe

Rev Dr R. Musasiwa, Principal, Domboshawa Theological College

Two emails have come from Avondale Parish - and good that they arrived together. Both are from Rev Dr R. Musasiwa, Principal, Domboshawa Theological College, Harare.

First, the bad news (July 13)
Many had hoped today, 13th July 2009, was to be a highlight in the process of drawing up the much needed people-driven constitution for Zimbabwe. A lot of time and money had gone into preparing for the first of two stakeholder conferences on the new constitution. The venue for the two day conference was the Harare International Conference Centre in Harare.

Nearly 4000 People travelled from all parts of the country to attend this critical conference. Position papers had been prepared. The churches of Zimbabwe also collaborated in crafting a common position paper on both process and content of Zimbabwe’s constitution (available on request).

The accreditation process was slow and chaotic. The proceedings also took too long to commence. Why did people have to wait from 8:00 until 12 noon? No explanation was given by the organizers. This unfortunate delay just created an opportunity for the ZANU-PF and the MDC camps to taunt each other and to sing party songs. Still for those of us who were at the conference this was a small price to pay, if only our patience was to result in a clear way forward for the constitution crafting process.

Unfortunately that was not to be. When the proceedings finally commenced, the Speaker of Parliament (MDC) was in the middle of his welcoming remarks, trying to give a background to the constitution-making process, when ZANU-PF zealots disrupted the occasion by singing party songs, dancing and throwing missiles. We hoped the police would soon restore order to allow the proceedings to carry on. There was no such police intervention until it was all pandemonium. Riot police were finally called in, only to evacuate the hall without anyone announcing a way forward.
By all accounts this was a stage-managed event. It appears that hooligans were bussed to this event to do just what happened. The songs which were being sung suggested an abhorrence to a new constitution, and particularly to the fact that MDC is at the forefront of this process.

For now the forces of chaos appear to have won. It is difficult to know how this process will be rescued from total collapse. Obviously the forces of chaos would hope to even bring down the inclusive government and return the country to the status quo.

All this requires that we pray fervently for the Lord’s will to be done. The forces of chaos must not be allowed to prevail. We trust that the principals to the inclusive government will quickly get together and give this nation a credible way forward.

Police coralling protesters at the constitutional conference (AP)

However, after this disruption - which was aired on UK news as, I guess, yet another example of Mugabe's perfidy - work got underway.

Second - progress (July 14)
Only yesterday it seemed the vital constitution-making process in Zimbabwe was doomed. Forces of chaos seemed to have prevailed and even the inclusive government was under threat. Today phase two of the constitution-making process has been successfully concluded. How did such a turn of events happen?

Foremost was the role of prayer. A number of us responded to yesterday's ugly events by mobilizing prayer. We know people prayed.

Early this morning I received a message from a couple who were praying for this process at the crack of dawn. Many of you would have joined us in praying that our nation would not be engulfed by the sort of chaos that has characterized nations like Somalia. Even as the conference resumed today, we were continuously in prayer. And of course the Lord has been faithful in answering prayer.

Secondly (and as part of the answer to our prayer) the three political principals (Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara) held an emergency meeting last night and issued statements which helped to bring sanity to today's events. They demonstrated unity of purpose and a determination that this process should continue. They warned trouble-makers to stop last night's nonsense or else face consequences.

Thirdly, the Parliamentary Select Committee and the Minister of Constitutional Affairs remained determined to continue with the process. Their own demonstration of political maturity and unity of purpose across the political divide sent a good message to erring subordinates.

The result is that the purpose of the All Stakeholders Conference was fulfilled. The conference was about PROCESS and METHODOLOGY. The original 12 constitutional themes were expanded to 17 as a result of the conference. Speakers elaborated on the various themes to bring an understanding of their importance for the constitution. Rev Dr Shana spoke eloquently on Church and Religion. His was one of the best I have heard. His topic will be one of the 17 themes.

Within two weeks the 17 thematic committees should have been set up for phase 3 of the process - constitution CONTENT. Those committees will then cover the length and breath of Zimbabwe getting people's views on the themes. The findings of those committees will be audited by a verification committee and fed to the drafting committee. The resulting draft constitution will then be discussed in the second stakeholders conference which will determine if any amendments to the draft will be needed before the draft constitution is taken for a referendum. It is VITAL that all Christians become alert to, and participate in, the forthcoming outreach by thematic committees.

While we are glad to have got over the current hurdle, we do not lull ourselves into complacency. Yesterday's events signalled the fact that the process is fragile and can easily be threatened and overwhelmed by forces of chaos. Yesterday's events have helped us to appreciate the vital necessity for prayer until there is a complete turnaround in the fortunes of our nation.

Thank you for being part of this process, in prayer if not in anything else.

====================

Though I have a question which may simply expose my ignorance of the factions in Zimbabwe. If the disruption was organised (which I take as read) then who organised it such that, the following day, Mugabe is telling them off?

Merely a warning, a show of strength to ensure the conference knows the score on where power lies (how could they not)? Or a substantive message of future disruption?

The process sounds impressively inclusive. (Though I have just heard a fairly dismissive observation that democrats believe that all the problems of democracy can be solved by more democracy.) It is clearly designed as an effective mechanism to heal a sick and wounded body politic. Sadly doctor and nurse are still arguing about everything: the need for healing, what should be done first, what medicine would achieve what result. And at least one party is, it would seem, still far more interested in controlling the patient's bank account than restoring health.

Paul Bagshaw

Laurie Taylor interviews Terry Eagleton

For a bit of intelligent and entertaining discussion of the Dawkins assault on religion click here.

Memories like this constantly inform Eagleton's passionate criticism of the "New Atheists". Whereas he has spent months and even years of his life debating theology with clever believers, the likes of Dawkins and Hitchens suddenly arrive on the scene and sweep away the entire philosophical content of religion with a derisory wave of the hand. Eagleton might now be ready to talk of religion as an allegory and to question along with Dawkins and Hitchens the literal truth of the Bible. But what he can never overlook in his opponents is their failure to ever engage in intellectual debate with the likes of the Dominicans who changed the course of his own life at Cambridge. It is because they never exposed themselves to this type of theological debate that they can now be indicted for having "bought their atheism on the cheap". They are, in the equally scathing words of other Eagleton enthusiasts, nothing more than "discount store atheists" or even "schoolyard atheists".

....
But what precisely have these alleged cheapskates overlooked? In his LRB review, Eagleton provides a namecheck. "What one wonders are Dawkins's views on the epistemological differences between Aquinas and Duns Scotus? Has he read Eriugena on subjectivity, Rahner on grace or Moltmann on hope? Has he even heard of them?"
This is good knockabout stuff but, as Anthony Grayling pointed out in his LRB letters page response, charging Dawkins with failing to read theology "misses the point that when one rejects the premises of a set of views it is a waste of time to address what is built on those premises". Or, as Richard Dawkins himself put it to me during my interview with him for New Humanist in early 2007, "Somebody who thinks the way I do doesn't think theology is a subject at all. So to me it is like someone saying they don't believe in fairies and then being asked how they know if they haven't studied fairy-ology."

....

There is, then, a fascinating double repression going on in the pages of The God Delusion andReligion, Faith and Revolution. Dawkins, the thoroughgoing scientist, abandons a central tenet of science - testability - in order to proclaim his belief in moral progress, while Eagleton, the thoroughgoing Marxist, is forced to relinquish a fundamental tenet of Marxism - its materialism - in order to find religious ideas of sufficient intrinsic value to counter Dawkins's alleged caricature.

Posted by Anglican Information

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION

'A voice for the voiceless in the Anglican Central African Province'

A forced episcopal election for Lake Malawi? The new Bishop of Upper Shire, Malawi, the first twenty-one days

- and more on that ‘poisoning’.

Diocese of Lake Malawi

The four archdeacons of the Diocese of Lake Malawi were summoned today, Tuesday 30th June, to hear from the Vicar General The Rev’d Canon Michael Mkoko that the diocese is to have an election to replace the current bishop-elect. This election has been ordered by the Provincial bishops who under acting Dean Albert Chama of Northern Zambia now feel confident enough to risk forcing an election which they have declared is to take place at short notice (just within canonical requirements if the requisite notices go out) on the same day, Saturday 1st August, as the elections for Northern Malawi.

Resistance in the diocese is likely as the original election held in July 2005, which returned the Rev’d Dr Nicholas Henderson of London, England, near unanimously is still considered by a majority in the diocese to remain valid. There are divisions of opinion in a diocese where many long for an end to the stalemate but any attempt to supplant an already legitimately elected bishop by attempting to hold another election without canonical resolution of the first is certain to produce conflict.

People in the diocese are in no mood to let the bishops ignore the agreed independent investigation by a Provincial Court (see our article on our website dated 21st August 2007) into what happened at the Court of Confirmation. Meetings are planned for the near future to consider a response to Bishop Chama’s ultimatum.

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION observes that had the Central African bishops honoured their original agreement to a Provincial Court there would have been a settlement of the Lake Malawi situation long ago. There are however two problems from their point of view: First, that a genuinely independent Provincial Court would almost certainly find embarrassingly against the way in which the Court of Confirmation was conducted. Secondly, submission to the will of the people would represent a ‘loss of face’ which is a serious matter for African (and any other for that matter) church leaders. From the bishops’ point of view it is better to ‘bluff it out’. With this tactic they were ultimately successful in Upper Shire diocese, although Lake Malawi has presented a much tougher prospect with the people having held out against what they see as deep injustice for three years.

After his election as Bishop of Lake Malawi Dr Henderson was declared to have been of ‘unsound faith’ and therefore ‘not confirmed’ by a ‘majority’ decision at an episcopal ‘Court of Confirmation’ held in November 2005. This decision is thought to have been contrived illegally under uncanonical proceedings presided over by the then Archbishop of the Province Bernard Malango.

The ‘verdict’ of ‘unsound faith’ was declared because Dr Henderson had been the one-time General Secretary of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union (M.C.U.), the Anglican Communion’s oldest theological society. Henderson a priest for over 30 years of impeccable Anglican background and orthodoxy is widely thought to have been a victim of Bernard Malango’s then propensity to acquiesce to North American schismatic tendencies. North American conservatives it should be noted do not like anyone who might be considered an academic liberal and habitually engage in attempted character assassination of those who dare to disagree with them.

These include of the Central African bishops at the time of the controversial Court of Confirmation, The Rt Rev’d Dr James Tengatenga, now chair of the influential Anglican Consultative Council, who was (and still is) one of the international editors of Modern Believing the much-respected MCU quarterly journal. Also Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana who was a principal speaker at the MCU pre-Lambeth Conference in Hertfordshire, England in 2008.

Significantly, of those who voted against Henderson, Nolbert Kunonga, self-styled Archbishop of Zimbabwe and Elson Jakazi of Manicaland have both been excommunicated but continue to promote violence against Anglicans in Zimbabwe.

Former Archbishop Bernard Malango, a great friend and promoter of Kunonga, also around the time of the Court of Confirmation was touring the Anglican Communion (funded by American separatists) promoting schism and speaking against the Archbishop of Canterbury. This has now borne fruit in that the current sole candidate for the vacancy in North Malawi is the Rev’d Scott Wilson who is an active member of the new breakaway ‘Anglican Church in North America’ (A.C.N.A.). This loose and somewhat disparate federation of dissident former Episcopalians has split acrimoniously from the official Episcopal Church and most of the Anglican Communion. It is not clear consequently whether Wilson is in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, a position that is mandatory in the Central African Provincial Canons. Ironically, the only body that can declare the A.C.N.A. to be in communion with Canterbury is the Anglican Consultative Council. Chaired by James Tengatenga, it is unlikely to do so.

Definitions of what might be ‘unsound faith’ seem therefore to be fluid. The accusation is applied arbitrarily. For further example, the newly elected Bishop of Harare, the Rev’d Dr Chad Gandiya, also of impeccable Anglican background, was accused, in a letter dated 22nd September 2007, written by the then Bishop of Manicaland Elson Jakazi, and sent to the Provincial bishops, of ‘inviting gay priests’ from South Africa to speak at Bishop Gaul Theological College, Harare where Gandiya was principal. ‘Some priests walked out in protest’ the letter goes on. This letter was a resurrection of a previously successful attempt to smear Gandiya made by Archbishop Bernard Malango at the earlier election for Bishop of Harare in 2001 when Gandiya was a candidate who was forced out of the race by Malango. The infamous Nolbert Kunonga ‘won’ with the support of dictator Robert Mugabe in strange circumstances not having been on the candidate’s list at all.

This complicated history shows the damaging effects that North American ecclesiastical battles can have directly and indirectly in far-off Central Africa. Certainly Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana is right in pointing out that Africans actually have other priorities than the endless North American gay debate. Naturally, he in turn has been pilloried for daring to say this by conservative American websites.

Diocese of Upper Shire, Malawi, the new bishop shows his mettle:

The world’s youngest bishop the Rt Rev’d Brighton Malasa, a onetime chaplain to former Archbishop Bernard Malango, was publicly (broadcast live on Malawi radio and television), by the President of Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika, given 2,000,000 Malawi Kwacha (£8,500 or $14,000) specifically for the Diocese of Upper Shire by way of a helpful start-up grant. Unfortunately, only 1,500,000 Malawi Kwacha have found their way into the diocesan accounts with the remaining 500,000 being kept by Malasa for personal use. In a similar fashion the diocesan car has not been registered in the name of the Diocese of Upper Shire as it should be but rather in Brighton Malasa’s own name.

It is clear that the new bishop is going to have difficulty in attracting future sponsorship and outside aid for his impoverished diocese. Objectors to his election had cited a history financial mismanagement as a reason why the House of Bishops should not have chosen him.

Alleged ‘poisoning’ of the late Canon Rodney Hunter in Nkhota-kota, Diocese of Lake Malawi

At the Court hearing reported by us in our last issue Leonard Mondoma the late Canon Hunter’s loyal but hapless cook arrived at court to face his twice-suspended Forward in Faith supported priest accuser, the Rev’d Denis Kayamba. Kayamba had arrived with a gang of ‘friends’ presumably in order to intimidate what he thought would be the lone Mondoma.

However, it was Kayamba who was reported to have looked astonished when two lawyers from Amnesty International lawyer, Charles Kasambara’s Lilongwe based firm arrived to support Mondoma. Kasambara’s speciality is the defence of those who have been wrongfully accused - he is frequently in Zimbabwe. He had been alerted at the last minute to give support to Mondoma who has already had to endure 18 months of life-threatening conditions in Nkhota-kota prison, solely on the accusation of Denis Kayamba. The ‘evidence’ of ‘poisoning’ has still not been produced and the judge rightly adjourned the hearing to a later date ordering Kayamba to ‘go and get a lawyer’.

Apologies - and a new beginning

First, my apologies for not posting for a month. My role with EAASSG has become all-consuming and I'm afrain this blog has been one of the casualties.

(I know, this is not good, and I accept all lectures on work-life balance. But that's the way it is at the moment and will be for the foreseeable future until more people can be brought on board. Any one in the area of Newcastle upon Tyne interested in helping? Responsibility for the EAASSG website is about to fall into my lap, I think.)

However my silence has prompted a new start: the good people at Anglican Information have been in touch and the upshot is that they are willing to contribute to this blog directly. (I have failed to post some material they sent for which, again, I apologise.)

They - or whoever takes on this task for the collective - will be an equal author wholly responsible for their own content. I look forward to new, well informed and provocative posts.

Paul Bagshaw


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