The violence continues in Zimbabwe

Direct from NewsDay, 28 August

MASVINGO — Embattled Anglican Church leader Chad Gandiya’s subordinates last week appealed for President Robert Mugabe’s intervention over the alleged continued harassment of their followers by members of a faction led by excommunicated church leader Nobert Kunonga.

The church leaders lamented their continued eviction from Anglican Church buildings in most parts of the country by Kunonga’s followers even though the matter was still before the courts.

The Bishop of Masvingo 

Godfrey Tawonezvi

Part of the letter reads: “We are, therefore, appealing to President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency President RG Mugabe, members of the Government of National Unity, Home Affairs co-ministers and the Police Commissioner-General to intervene in this matter where innocent and peace-loving worshippers are being driven out of their church buildings for no legitimate reason.  

"As Anglican Bishops in Zimbabwe in the Church of the Province of Central, we wish to express our dismay at the continued harassment of the faithful in the Diocese of Masvingo. What happened to freedom of worship in Zimbabwe?”

The letter was co-signed by Anglican bishops Cleophas Lunga (Matabeleland), Julius Makoni (Manicaland), Godfrey Tawonezvi (Masvingo) and Ishmael Mukuwanda of the Diocese of Central Africa and Anglican Church worshippers at Daramombe Mission in Chivhu.

The bishops said despite a court judgment clearly indicating that the Chivhu church was not within Kunonga’s jurisdiction since September 1, 2001, the latter, with the assistance of the police, had continued to evict members belonging to the Gandiya faction from the building. 

“What Kunonga is using to hoodwink the police are title deeds which he illegally refused to surrender to the Diocese of Masvingo at its formation. We are also disturbed that the police have taken sides. They are the ones who are in the forefront when our members are evicted from their church buildings." 

However, police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said he was not aware of the alleged disturbances in Chivhu.  

“For now I am unable to comment,” Bvudzijena said.

He may be unable to comment, but he can scarcely by unaware of the issue.

More Kanunga invasions

The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe sets out on a new course

From the Harare Standard Gandiya faction constructs own Anglican churches JENNIFER DUBE, Saturday, 12 May 2012 18:01 The Rt Revd Chad Gandiya, Bishop of Harare (Right),  CPCA, Anglican Communion Photo Credit: Anglican Harare CPCA THE Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) has started buying land to build new churches as the property wrangle with ex-communicated Bishop Nolbert Kunonga continues. Reverend Samuel Sifelani of the Marlborough parish said parishioners from his church would soon start building new structures because the Kunonga faction was preventing them from using the building they had shared before their acrimonious split. .... “We are happy to be able to convene and pray in peace, without being attacked and arrested,” one parishioner said. “But we are not completely at peace because our properties were taken away from us.”  Land has been acquired in Ruwa where the Mothers’ Union intended to build a training centre and a conference centre. Glenview parish has bought land while Warren Park parish is fundraising. Norton and other parishes have also secured land. Kunonga told the journalist, “Assist them by telling them that they should not build in the name of the Harare diocese and Anglican because they would have built for me as the law gave me custody of the church and all its properties,” he said. “They do not know what they are doing but they have to be wary or else when I arrive at the properties they will start saying the law is unfair yet it is them who would have shown lack of intelligence. He added: “Impress upon them that they should change the name so they do not get disadvantaged. They can come up with a new name and re-register or else their efforts will amount to nothing but a waste of time because the law is clear that they have no church.” All here

Diocese of Harare case in Zimbabwean Supreme Court soon

From The Zimbabwean, 14 April 2012
All here

Anglican campaign goes international
A dossier containing shocking details of the persecution of defenceless Christians handed to President Robert Mugabe by outgoing Arch bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has not helped.

.... 

Persecution and violence

Mothers' Union members in Zimbabwe

There have been many instances of persecution and violence. Church members have been tear-gassed and hit; priests have been evicted from their homes and falsely imprisoned; intimidation has been used; care assistants have been evicted from orphanages leaving orphans without proper care. 

Because of his closeness to the Mugabe regime, Dr Kunonga has obtained the assistance of the police to evict clergy, teachers and medical personnel from churches, schools and medical centres. The police, without an authorising court order, have assisted and managed to arrest a number of legitimate occupants. 

The situation today
The legitimate church has repeatedly appealed in the courts against unfair and illegal action, but there has been a lot of delay.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and some African Archbishops visited Harare in late 2011. They reaffirmed their support for the current Bishop of Harare, Chad Gandiya, and visited President Mugabe to provide him with a dossier of incidents of violence and oppression which the diocese has suffered at the hands of Dr Kunonga, his supporters and the police. 

At last, the appeals which the Diocese of Harare has been making to the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe will soon be heard. Scheduled for the middle of 2012, the Chief Justice of Zimbabwe will hear all the appeals in connection with the issue of control of church buildings, which include churches, vicarages, schools and medical centres.

All here

Zimbabwe: the story continues

Nolbert Kunonga in his Harare office

The Standard, Harare, Sunday, 18 March 2012 

Anglicans saga: Police ban gatherings by Kunonga’s rivals

BY JENIFFER DUBE
POLICE in Mashonaland West have imposed a ban on church activities of rivals of ex-communicated Anglican bishop Nolbert Kunonga, a police internal memorandum has shown. Kunonga, a self-confessed Zanu PF apologist, has been fighting for the control of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe with a rival group led by Bishop Chad Gandiya.

Memorandum number 18/12 to officers commanding districts written by the Officer Commanding Mashonaland West Province, Senior Assistant Commissioner Rangarirai Mushaurwa, directed all stations not to allow anyone to assemble for anything related to the Anglican church without Kunonga’s approval.

“It is important to note that the courts recognise the leader of the Anglican Church in the country as Bishop Nolbert Kunonga,” part of the memo reads.

“In the above context, any other person who claims leadership of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe is not recognised by the courts in Zimbabwe.

“It follows that activities by those who claim leadership of the Anglican Church are illegal and police will not sanction them.”

The memo says no priest, sub-deacon, church warden, mother union, youth, Bernard Mizeki Guild is allowed to organise, perform or call people to assemble for anything related to the Anglican Church unless approved by the ex-communicated Bishop.

“Therefore, the incumbent Bishop of the Diocese of Harare being Bishop Norbert Kunonga should be allowed to lead in peace and to look after the diocese and property of the diocese of Harare where it is located without any disturbances as he has done since 2001.

“Any interference in his governance should be treated as an act of violence, disregard of judiciary rulings as the said perpetrators should be judged for contempt of court”, the memo warns.

Thanks to Mad Priest

A feud between two factions of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been raging since Kunonga’s excommunication from the main Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) in 2007 after he unilaterally pulled the Harare Diocese out of the province accusing his rivals of supporting homosexuality.

The feud, which is characterised by violent clashes especially targeted at CPCA members, has resulted in numerous court cases and political interventions to no avail.

Mashonaland West police spokesperson Clemence Mabwgeazara professed ignorance of the memo.

“I haven’t seen the letter,” Mabwgeazara said. “So far I do not know anything about it. There is no letter like that.”

The Standard,  

2 news items from Zmbabwe

Under the Headline Kunonga purge on Anglicans continues, NewsDay has an article about the ex-bishop's continued predations:

Excommunicated Anglican Church Bishop Nolbert Kunonga continued his onslaught on members of a rival faction after parishioners at St Andrews Arcadia Church in Harare were kicked out of their place of worship over the weekend.

.... Eighty-four-year-old Ada Adams said: I contributed immensely at the church. I have not known any church but this one. We built the church on our own, we bought bricks so as to put up this church.

I do not even know what to say, I had to take time to be able to talk to you because I have this huge lump in my throat, so I had to take a deep breath so that I am able to talk. People were crying, it was a real emotional service we had. more...

It's purely destructive greed - it's not as though he has lots of followers waiting to use the church.

On the other hand,
SW Radio Africa reports

A coalition of the main religious leaders in the country has embarked on a regional drive to urge SADC leaders to persuade Robert Mugabe to implement comprehensive reforms before the next election.

The offensive comes as SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that leaders in the Global Political Agreement are mulling calling for elections in the last quarter of 2012.

Rev Lameck Mutete

The church leaders, under the auspices of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations, have prepared a report detailing the stumbling blocks to free and fair elections, which they are presenting to justice ministers from the SADC bloc.

...
Anglican church Reverend Lameck Mutete told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that church leaders have taken it upon themselves to remind Mugabe of his constitutional duties.

‘It’s not a question of forcing or putting pressure on Mugabe to reform but it’s actually a reminder which is in line with what was agreed when the unity government was formed.

‘He has diverted from what he assented to during negotiations that gave birth to the GPA. The church leaders are simply reminding him of his constitutional duties,’ Reverend Mutete said.

I take my hat off to them. They breed tough, committed and resilient Anglicans in Zimbabwe.

Open Letter to Zimbabwe's Anglicans

To be an Anglican in Zimbabwe is to suffer police harassment and state sanctioned violence. Ex-bishop Kunonga has the backing of the state and uses it to extend his reach and his grasp. 


President Mugabe has said there will be elections this year (though he first said they should be held by March and Tsvangirai is opposed). There is already increased pressure on NGOs and civil society bodies - just as preceded the last elections.

OPEN LETTER TO THE PARISHES IN THE DIOCESE OF HARARE (CPCA)

February 2012

Bishop Chad Gandiya of the Diocese of Harare 

To all the faithful in the Diocese of Harare CPCA,
Warm greetings to you all! May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.

We are writing to ask you to kindly take note of the following:

1. There is still a lot of confusion regarding the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) and the ‘Anglican Church in Zimbabwe’ also referred to as Province of Zimbabwe. We want to clarify this position to all our parishes and the members of the public so that our members can continue to congregate and worship God freely as members of the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) which is different, independent and has no communion with Dr. Kunonga’s ‘Anglican Church in Zimbabwe’.

2. The Diocese of Harare, Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion with over 70 million members. It is not a part of the ‘Anglican Church in Zimbabwe’ or Province of Zimbabwe which was formed and headed by Dr Nolbert Kunonga.

3. There is no confusion about the leadership of the two different churches.  The Diocese of Harare (CPCA) is led by  me  Bishop Chad  Nicholas  Gandiya.  The confusion is created in the use of the name ‘Anglican Church in Zimbabwe’ by Kunonga making it appear that any church in Zimbabwe with the designation ‘Anglican’ or that is part of the Anglican Communion is his church.  In the Anglican Communion, there is no Diocese or Province called the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe or Province of Zimbabwe.

Dr. Kunonga is deliberately playing on words and words associations to confuse people. Let it be known therefore, that the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) is a legal church organisation in Zimbabwe whose operations are above board. Anyone who disturbs the activities of the Diocese of Harare (CPCA)  is  breaking the law.

Christians anywhere in Zimbabwe when they meet for worship or church business do not need to be sanctioned by the police. You only need to look at the number of congregations throughout Zimbabwe who meet under trees to worship. They do not need police to give them permission to gather. Any police officer who demands any of our congregations to be sanctioned by them or Kunonga is simply abusing his/her authority, breaking the law and infringing on the constitutional rights of the people of Zimbabwe to assembly, association, expression and worship.

4. The dispute that remains between  Dr.  Kunonga and his Anglican Church in Zimbabwe and us in the Diocese of Harare CPCA centres on the properties that he took with him when he withdrew and was subsequently excommunicated from the Church of the Province of Central Africa and therefore the  Worldwide Anglican Communion in 2007. This matter is still before the courts and we wait for the final resolution of the matter by the courts of law in Zimbabwe.

5. The issue of homosexuality is also being used to confuse our members and members of the public. The position of the Diocese of Harare and the CPCA on homosexuality is clear. Canon 22.5 states that: “The Church of this Province believes that marriage, by divine institution, is a lifelong and exclusive union  and partnership between one man and one woman”. It does not encourage or approve same-sex unions or relationships.

6. As far as the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) is concerned, and as far as all those who are in communion with us are concerned, Dr. Kunonga is not a part of our church, and we are not a part of his church. Let no one be fooled by the deliberate confusion between the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) which is headed by me, Bishop Chad N. Gandiya and Dr.  Kunonga’s “Anglican Church in Zimbabwe”.

Kunonga is closely aligned with Mugabe

While the Diocese awaits the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe to determine the issues around the properties taken by Dr.  Kunonga, we are free to worship at any place and at any time that we find convenient other than our church buildings which he was given custodianship until the matter is resolved. There is no law in Zimbabwe that forbids us to worship God. The same applies to those who do not want to worship with us – there is no law in the statutes of Zimbabwe that forces any one to worship with someone they do not want.

In the name of God, please do not allow yourself to be fooled. If there are things about what is happening that you do not understand, please ask us and we will gladly explain it to you.

Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

With every blessing as you seek to draw closer to the Lord this Lent,
+Chad, Harare.
The Rt. Revd. Dr. Chad N. Gandiya
Bishop of the Diocese of Harare (CPCA)

Zimbabwe: further harassment

Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri.
Chihuri was once convicted of corruption,
though this was overturned on appeal.

Two letters of complaint by Bishop Chad Gandiya have been published in the Zimbabwean press. Both are addressed to the Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri about the way the Church has been treated by the police.

In The Zimbabwean the bishop details:

• Our joint retreat with clergy from the Diocese of Manicaland from the 2nd - 6th January 2012 at Peterhouse was stopped by the police who told us to disperse because we did not have police clearance to hold the retreat (The laws of the land do not require us to seek police clearance to gather for worship) 
• Today the 13th January 2012, clergy wives of our diocese were due to start their retreat at the Jamaica Inn not far from Harare along the Mutare Road. They have been informed this morning by the lady running the Centre that they can no longer have their retreat there.She claims that she was visited by members of the CIO last night who instructed her to cancel our women's booking.

The Association of Zimbabwean Journalists have posted a different letter:

• 17th December 2011 at St. Bernard’s School in Nyatsambo Village, Mhondoro. I had gone there for a Confirmation Service. The local police had been informed about this Church Service even though it is not a requirement that we do this. Over three hundred people turned up for the Church Service and we confirmed 116 people. After the service two local policemen based at Mamina approached me and asked me, the local priest and our Church Wardens to go to Mamina Police Station because their “boss” wanted to ask some questions about our Service.

On this occasion Bishop Gandiya, his wife and the local churchwardens were kept by the police most of the day, though not arrested. 

He concludes:

The Zimbabwean Constitution allows for freedom of religion. Why are we being harassed like this? Are we second class citizens in the land of our birth? Like any other citizen of this country we expect equal protection by the law enforcement agents of our Republic.

From Zimbabwe's News Day

Ex-bishop Kunonga

Excommunicated Anglican Church Bishop, Nolbert Kunonga, who is now running the independent Anglican province of Zimbabwe has assumed the role of a “Zanu PF commissar and is behaving like a party spokesman”, a political analyst and a Cabinet minister have said.

This follows Kunonga’s open declaration of his support for President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF in the next elections before describing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC-T party as an “embodiment of evil”. more...

This will come as no surprise to anyone. 

Support for Bishop Gandiya

The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba,
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
and Metropolitan of the Anglican
Church of Southern  Africa

Archbishop Makgoba has issued a public call for the police in Zimbabwe to stop persecuting Anglicans.

His press release says,

"I deplore the shocking action of the Zimbabwean police on Tuesday in preventing the clergy of the Diocese of Harare from holding their annual prayer retreat at Peterhouse School.

"I call on President Mugabe to ensure that the religious freedom of all Zimbabweans, and especially persecuted Anglicans, is respected, and to instruct the police to allow the churches freedom of assembly and worship.

"We affirm Bishop Chad Gandiya, his clergy and people at this time. As they share in the sufferings of Christ, may they gain strength from the experience and never give in to a cynical and sinister government. ...

"I also call on our ecumenical friends and our partners in the Anglican Communion to ask their governments to put pressure on Zimbabwe to end this persecution."

The police, of course, reject this interpretation of events,

Police spokesman, Oliver Mandipaka said the meeting had to be broken following concerns members of a splinter Anglican group led by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, could have tried to meet in the same private school. 

“Judging from past experiences, these meetings have turned violent. It was on that basis that we advised them to disperse,” Oliver Mandipaka told the German news agency dpa.

“People must correctly interpret police actions. We were just being proactive.

Report here.

The Nigerian Sunday Tribune says,

Bishop Gandiya told VOA's Ntungamili Nkomo that he is encouraged by the support from the regional primate, adding the police should stop harassing his followers.

"We were told that we were supposed to seek permission for out retreat, and yet under POSA (Public Order and Security Act) that's not the case," Gandiya said.

Political commentator Brilliant Mhlanga of the University of Westminster in London said Mr. Mugabe can not stop Kunonga from harassing his rivals because ZANU-PF sees him as an asset.

Getting worse in Zimbabwe

You may well have seen these reports, but I'm afraid I missed them until now:

Bishop Gandiya worshipping in the open air in Harare (USPG)

From Titus Mission 26 June 2011, from an open letter from Bishop Chad Gandiya,

Last Sunday a Kunonga priest forced himself into the house of our priest (Rev’d Muzanenhamo) at Mubayira in Mhondoro while he was on trek taking services. He was informed and came back immediately and pushed Kunonga’s priest out of the house. The police came and instead of arresting the intruder they arrested our priest and charged him with assault. He spent the night in cells and we had to bail him out.

That same evening our newly ordained Deacon was evicted from the church house by Kunonga’s people. Police were called and they sided with those evicting our Deacon. In both cases there were no eviction orders as is required by the laws of the land.

From George Conger, 24 June 2011

The Bishop of Masvingo writes from Zimbabwe that Dr Nolbert Kunonga has expanded his depredations beyond Harare and has tried to take control of a diocesan mission hospital in the southeast of the Central African nation.

In an email to the Central African bishops and supporters in the West, Bishop Godfrey Tawonezvi said the breakaway Bishop of Harare “continues to destabilize” the mission hospital in Daramombe “in an effort to forcibly take control of the institution.”

Dr Kunonga’s invasion of the Diocese of Masvingo comes amidst heightened uncertainty in the bitter dispute. On 2 June, Bishop Chad Gandiya of Harare also sent an email to supporters reporting that 16 Anglicans had been arrested by the police after protesting against the invasion of the Rev Julius Zimbudzana’s home by supporters of the breakaway bishop. Several priests were jailed overnight on trumped-up charges, Bishop Gandiya said.

From the New York Times, 29 May 2001,

Nolbert Kunonda sitting pretty

Mr. Mugabe, a Roman Catholic, recently denounced black bishops in established churches as pawns of whites and the West, singling out for special opprobrium Catholic bishops who have “a nauseating habit of unnecessarily attacking his person,” the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.

But it is leaders of the Anglican Church, one of the country’s major denominations, who have lately faced the most sustained pressure. Nolbert Kunonga, an excommunicated Anglican bishop and staunch Mugabe ally, has escalated a drive to control thousands of Anglican churches, schools and properties across Zimbabwe and southern Africa.

“The throne is here,” declared Mr. Kunonga, who has held onto his bishopric here in the sprawling diocese of Harare through courts widely seen as partisan to Mr. Mugabe. He has also been backed by a police force answerable to the president, whom Mr. Kunonga describes as “an angel.” ....

 and on page 2

Mr. Kunonga’s aim, he and his adviser, the Rev. Admire Chisango, said, is for their breakaway Anglican church to control about 3,000 churches, schools, hospitals and other properties in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Malawi — a treasure accumulated since Anglican missionaries first arrived in what is now Zimbabwe during the 19th century.

...

Mr. Kunonga, who earned a Ph.D. in religious studies from Northwestern University and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary outside Chicago, says that his success in controlling church properties is due to the persuasiveness of his legal arguments in court, not Mr. Mugabe’s influence. 

“I’m superior intellectually and from a legal point of view,” he said. “I’m very superior to them.”
He vociferously supports Mr. Mugabe, and like many loyalists, he has been richly rewarded. The ZANU-PF government bestowed on him a prized commercial farm confiscated from white owners. Mr. Kunonga argued that his forebears had lived on that very spot for centuries and that he was just repossessing what was rightfully his. 

....
One recent Sunday morning, the magnificent Anglican Cathedral in downtown Harare, once thronged by thousands of congregants, was mostly empty. Mr. Kunonga sat among a smattering of parishioners. 

Not far away, a thousand Anglicans packed a plain rented church not under his authority. Beneath bare light bulbs dangling from unfinished rafters, they joyously danced and sang to the beat of drums and listened raptly to their charismatic young priest, Barnabas Munzwandi. 

As the priest’s voice wafted into the yard outside where the overflow crowd sat on the grass, Victoria Ngwere, a 38-year-old housewife, explained that she had pushed her son, Raymond, miles in his wheelchair to get to services rather than attend a Kunonga church nearer her home.
“Here I can feel free,” she said. 

Amen. All here.

We say peace and they chant War

From SW Radio Africa

Video footage has emerged showing how police in April this year violently disrupted a church service in Glen Norah that had been organized by a coalition of churches to pray for peace in Zimbabwe. ZANU PF youths are also seen marching around the church chanting 'war, war, war.' ....

....

Under the theme "Saving Zimbabwe, the unfinished journey" the service was initially meant to have been held at St Peters Kubatana Centre in Highfields, but was changed to the Nazarene Church in Glen Norah after police camped in Highfields overnight and sealed off the venue to block access to the grounds.

Ten church goers and four pastors were arrested and taken to Glen Norah police station, where they were denied access to lawyers. One of the detainees, the MDC-T's Shakespeare Mukoyi, was brutally assaulted inside the church building.

Full story here.

More on the Bernard Mizeki memorial

The Bernard Mizeki shrine

Two newspapers reported the attempt to hold a commemoration of Bernard Mizeki at his shrine last weekend. Over 15,000 people were kept away from the shrine itself and met in a nearby showground.

According to the Standard

“We have no complaints, the police were here to protect us,” Gandiya said.

“Our only complainant is about politicians in the background who did not want to see us at the shrine. My question is: Are these police the same police force we know or a rogue force, considering there is a heavy police presence at the shrine?

“Why is Norbert Kunonga commanding the police?

While NewsDay had,

Police details were posted about three kilometres from the shrine and barred Gandiya and his followers from going there.

Gandiya said his people were denied access to the Bernard Mizeki Shrine by the police who said they were working under instructions.

Bishop Chad Gandiya was evidently angry at Kunonga's continued accusations that Bishop Gandiya and the church he leads endorses homosexuality and denied he was meddling in politics (the stock question of journalists the world over).

The troubles of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe won't be over till Mugabe and his regime is gone. That isn't going to happen anytime soon. Mugabe controls the security apparatus, has the backing of the army and barely pays lip-service to Tsvangirai and the MDC.

Bernard Mizeki, Catechist & Martyr

Morning Prayer, Bernard Mizeki, Catechist & Martyr, 1896, 16 June

from ACNS

For the second year running, Anglicans in Zimbabwe have been forced to find another place to mark the memorial of African martyr Bernard Mizeki after being denied access to their official shrine.

Last year worshippers, who had travelled from all over the country, were driven away by the Zimbabwe Republic Police despite assurances from the government that they would not be disturbed or harassed.

Bishop of Harare, the Rt Revd Dr. Chad N. Gandiya called on members of the Anglican Communion to pray for the safety of the pilgrims who travel to the Marondera Show Ground this coming weekend.

“The love, courage and commitment of Bernard Mizeki to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel he preached among the Mangwende people is an inspiration to us all as we suffer persecution,” he said.

“Like him our people continue to witness to God's love and grace regardless of arrests, ridicule and harassments. Celebrations this year are particularly meaningful because of what we are going through.”

....

In addition to praying, members of the Anglican Communion are asked to visit and 'like' the Facebook page I'm Standing with Zimbabwe's Anglicans to stand in solidarity with the Anglicans of Zimbabwe. The aim is to show Zimbabwe’s Anglicans that they are not alone in their suffering, that fellow brothers and sisters around the world are praying for their situation.

More violence in Zimbabwe

Anglican Priest Found Dead As Bishops Seek State Protection

From the Zimbabwe Mail (and thanks to Mad Priest for spotting it).

HARARE,- The on-going fighting between rival factions of the Anglican Church has claimed the life of an elderly female priest who was found dead in her house by fellow parishioners.

Bishop Chad Gandiya

This was revealed to other church members and the media by Bishop Chad Gandiya who leads the Harare Diocese of the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA).Bishop Gandiya said there were strong suspicions that the 89-year-old priest Jesca Mandeya was murdered by security operatives.

“ As a Bishop I am concerned that some of my people are going to be killed for the simple reason that they belong to a certain denomination, ”said Bishop Gandiya.

He added that both the church members and Bishops were living in fear of being killed as some of them continued to be followed by suspected operatives of the spy agency. Bishop Gandiya's Diocese is currently locked in a fierce legal battle for the church's assets with self appointed and Zanu (PF) backed Arch Bishop of the Church of Zimbabwe Nolbert Kunonga.

Since the dispute started, parishioners from the CPCA have been barred by police from using buildings belonging to the church even after the courts had ruled that the two factions should share the church premises. Bishop Gandiya,s followers are being forced to worship in hired buildings, in the open and in some churches. They also face regular threats from state agents.

Homophobia in Africa a compassionate view to counter the infamous Nolbert Kunonga

From: ANGLICAN-INFORMATION Recently we have observed an apparent tide of homophobia sweeping parts of Africa. Web traffic reports that the traditionally conservative African social ethos has been stirred up aggressively by conservative North American evangelists. ‘Sex and gender’ American cultural wars of the kind currently troubling the Anglican Communion are being exported into Africa.

Hats off to Bishops Gandiya, Bakare, Chama and Mwamba!

Such intrusions into Africa have been eagerly taken up by renegade ‘Archbishop’ Nolbert Kunonga, a Zimbabwean bishop who broke away from the Church of the Province of Central Africa in 2008. He has repeatedly accused the Central African Bishops of being gay, pro-gay or variations on this theme as an excuse for his actions against Anglican Christians of the Diocese of Harare. Kunonga, a sometime protégé of former Archbishop Bernard Malango, has been closely implicated in numerous acts of terror and violence against worshippers. Kunonga has been instrumental in resisting both Bishops Sebastian Bakare and latterly Bishop Chad Gandiya in their efforts to oversee the Diocese of Harare.

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION have received a letter, parts of which we publish below, that shows a rather more compassionate and reflective view from within the Diocese of Harare. Reflecting the current febrile atmosphere we have withheld the names of the senders for their own security.

Hats off to Bishop Chad Gandiya!
Please publish this article for the benefit of faithful Anglicans in Harare:
‘The downfall of the former Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, was a result of his dinosaur mentality, by which he has remained trapped in the past. Today’s Church needs progressive bishops who are in step with the changing world, where human rights are respected and observed without reservation. Time and culture continue to transform the face of the earth, as humankind becomes more civilized and liberation from the mindset of the middle ages continues. Kunonga has been a cause of immense pain because of unaccommodating thinking, which has seen many leave the Anglican Church, even before the present crisis, for churches where the human nature is better comprehended in line with a transforming world of science.

Sexual preference, or homosexuality is not a sin as Kunonga would like to have people believe. This is a condition over which no one has any control, a genetically motivated behaviour. We are profoundly grateful for the emergence of such progressive bishops such as our beloved Bishop Chad Gandiya, who realize that homosexuality is not simply a scourge of darkness. This reality has remained suppressed because of backward and unreasonable bishops such as Kunonga. Such people are concealed behind conservatism, and offer utterly nonsensical words such as orthodoxy when they mean a particular view of sexuality.

The former bishop Kunonga, or better, the disgraced and defrocked clergyman he is, deserves the present desertion by most, if not all, the faithful because he continues to profess archaic ideas of a long dead world. Homosexuals and lesbians exist as a fact, and caring bishops such as Chad Gandiya, should continue to hold high the flag of human rights. With our beloved Chad Gandiya at the helm of the Anglican Church, Zimbabwe will at last be free from an oppressive mentality and experience growth in a free society.

Hats off to Bishop Chad Gandiya, who joins other luminaries such as bishops Sebastian Bakare, Albert Chama and Trevor Mwamba who have openly resisted the persecution of gay and lesbian people’.

Want to have your say?

Comment below or
visit our companion blogsite: http://anglican-information.blogspot.com

.

Two reports from Harare

Via Avondale parish e-newsletter


From Arik.com (France), 25 January
Anglican Church invites Mugabe to pray out ex Bishop's unholy mess
By Alice Chimora

Anglicans in Zimbabwe have resolved to hold a street prayer protest in central Harare to press the police to allow the church access to its buildings across the capital. The parishes have invited President Mugabe, a Catholic, to the prayer session.

The Anglicans have been embroiled in power struggle to control the church and the dispute has spilled to the courts but the fight continues to escalate. Former Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, a staunch Zanu PF supporter is believed to be behind the chaos. And although Bishop Chad Nicholas Gandiya is the rightful head of the church, Nolbert Kunonga, who refuses to cede physical control of Anglican churches, is believed to have called in police to tear-gas worshippers out of church buildings on several occasions.

Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA), a supreme authority of Anglican church in the region has seen its orders defied by Kunonga to surrender church property. "The church resolved to hold the open prayer to force the police to abide by the court ruling," the church announced on Sunday. "The President [Mugabe] has been invited and his office is aware.

Initially it was felt that we hold a protest march, but this was later shelved as the diocese opted for an open prayer session."

It is still not clear whether Mugabe would attend or whether police have sanctioned the open prayer session. The protest prayer comes after co-Home Affairs minister, Giles Mutseyekwa announced that he was planning to meet Harare police commanders to discuss the Anglican issue. A High Court judge ordered Gandiya and Kunonga and their followers to share use of church buildings for prayers. But Kunonga's group is accused of locking up church doors every Sunday to prevent their rivals from entering the buildings to hold prayers, while the police have been on hand to chase away Gandiya's followers every time they tried to insist on their right to use the churches.

Kunonga was excommunicated in 2008 after trying to withdraw the Harare diocese from the Anglican church. He claimed at the time he was protecting the diocese from 'rampant homosexuality' and ordination of gay priests. A staunch supporter of Mugabe who tried to use the pulpit to defend the Zimbabwean leader's controversial policies, Kunonga was excommunicated together with several priests and other church leaders who backed his
revolt against the CPCA.

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From The Standard, 24 January
Govt wades into Anglican dispute
Caiphus Chimhete

Minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa says he will this week meet senior police officers in Harare over the partisan nature of the police handling the dispute between the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (ACPCA) and a break-away faction led by an ex-communicated bishop. The break-away group led by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who was expelled from the church in 2007, has been locking out parishioners from the ACPCA led by Bishop Chad Gandiya despite a High Court ruling ordering the two to share church facilities at different times of the day.

Mutsekwa said he was concerned about the continued violation of the court ruling by the break-away group led by known Zanu PF apologist Kunonga. "We are aware and concerned about what is happening," said Mutsekwa. "I will be meeting with the Officer Commanding Harare Province to find out why this is still happening and also give him a directive to stop it."

Disgruntled members last week accused the police of openly supporting the Kunonga faction, whose members have, on several occasions, disregarded court rulings with shocking impunity. A High Court ruling by Judge President Rita Makarau in 2008 ordered the two church factions to share the premises.

The two groups are supposed to share the premises with the Kunonga-led group taking the morning slot, while the Central African province take the session starting after mid-morning. But supporters of Kunonga continue to lock out parishioners who are members of the Anglican Province of Central Africa led by Gandiya.

The Diocesan Registrar for the CPCA Michael Chingore said the minister must "put his foot down" to ensure that the police respect the High Court ruling as well as the rule of law. Chingore said supporters of Kunonga were working in cahoots with the police to prevent ACPCA parishioners from freely worshipping in their churches.

This is not the first time that Mutsekwa and his counterpart Kembo Mohadi have intervened in the Anglican dispute. In April last year, the two factions had a meeting with the two ministers of Home Affairs and it was agreed that they share the worshipping time slots. However, Kunonga's supporters have neither respected resolutions of the meeting nor court rulings. "Remember, I issued a statement after our meeting last year but it appears nothing changed much so we will be meeting again next week (this week)," admitted Mutsekwa.

A parishioner at St Elizabeth's Church in Belvedere, Harare, described the disruptions in the Anglican Church as "the work of the devil". She said this after they were locked outside the church and foul-smelling manure spread out in an area they were scheduled to worship a fortnight ago. Worshippers continue to be locked out in other parishes around Harare.

Kunonga was ex-communicated after he attempted to unilaterally withdraw the Diocese of Harare from the Central African Province. The province includes churches from Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe.


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Christmas for Zimbabwean Anglicans

Bishop Chad Gandiya

Titus on Mission continues to bring up-to-date news from Zimbabwe. Over the last month he has recorded:

December 5 - Harare Diocese conflict intensifies, Bp. Gandiya “very concerned”

December 9 - Police bar Harare Anglican churches on Advent 2, yet bishop sees “revival”

December 14 - Church disruptions continue in Harare Diocese in Advent 3

December 14 - New Manicaland bishop wrestles with conflict, threats and depleted finances

December 15 - Harare police disruptions “painful, cruel and pathetic,” but court rules in CPCA diocese’s favor

December 25 - “Alarming disturbances and developments” besiege Harare Anglicans at Christmas


You might see a pattern. In the latest of these posts Bishop Gandiya writes;

It looks like our people are not going to be able to worship in their churches on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. It brings home the situation that prevailed at the time of Lord’s birth. No room at the Inn!

Further messages from Bishop Gandiya are reported verbatim in SW Radio Africa here. On 23 December the Bishop had gone to St Clare's Mission only to find the Church occupied. Therefore the Bishop decided to hold an open air service although, at the last minute (and having informed the police of their plans) they were able to move into the Church. However,

As I was doing the thanksgiving prayer the dean noticed the police walking outside and he went out to see them and was not allowed back in the church. He and the churchwarden who had accompanied us to the police were detained in one of the police vehicles. There were about 10 policemen and 6 of Kunonga’s priests.

Just before we distributed the communion elements the police walked in and started driving people out of the building. They also asked us to vacate the building and so we quickly and unceremoniously cleared the altar and went outside. I tried to ask why they were driving the people out of the church but they just kept doing it.

The Zimbabwe Mail has a Christmas Eve report on the situation

In Mbare, Kuwadzana, Tafara, Warren Park, Budiriro, Glen View, Belvedere, Hatfield and Marlborough, riot police locked the doors of churches to keep worshippers out.

The disruptions, engineered by ousted Zanu-PF-affiliated Anglican bishop Nolbert Kunonga, is in contemptuous breach of a High Court judgement by Justice Rita Makarau, who ruled that the churches were to be shared between the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) and the breakaway Anglican province set up by Kunonga, the former Bishop of Harare.

A report (December 23rd) of a Christmas truce seems over-optimistic.

I wish everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas - so long as you understand this is intended to fly in the face of actual experience.

The view from the other side

From The Chronicle (Harare)

Anglicans used as regime change tools
By E L Mukwereza

.... I am convinced beyond doubt that the British and American politicians are using our local Anglican bishops, priests, deacons and parishioners as tools for their entrenched regime change thrusts with the help of MDC movements.

... our two inspired bishops in this country voiced their abhorrence against homosexuality to the members of their "club" or 'association' called Province of Central Africa. They were there and then deemed to have been 'banned' or 'ex-communicated.'

... Having satisfied themselves falsely, they illegally appointed some long retired bishops to replace the bishops of Harare and Manicaland who had been procedurally, canonically and in accordance with the operative Acts of their Dioceses, enthroned.

The two illegally enthroned Bishops then high-jacked local gullible priests and laymen and women to follow them and subsequently made their church wardens, servers, church choir and structures of the Mothers' Union.

In the meantime, they claimed that they were the proper Anglican leaders from God. This caused dissent, confusion, misunderstandings, invasions and violence in the Diocese of Harare and Manicaland.

... Let us wake up and reposition ourselves and reconsider our paths — whether this is good for us and our God-fearing country or not. Your legitimate bishops in Harare and Mutare are there waiting for you to come back to your original faith and church. Not to that tainted with homosexuality and regime change policies and politics.

I don't suppose too many who read this here will flock to return to support Konunga.

It is always interesting to know just what the other side are saying and the rhetoric is interesting: legitimate Anglicans are disloyal, even treacherous, homosexual in fact or allegiance, misled and misinformed.

On the other hand Konunga faction are, above all, loyal to the regime. Now there's a pitch.

Court backs Gandiya

From the Sunday Mail (Harare)

Court bars police from interfering with parishioners
By Tafadzwa Chiremba

THE High Court has granted a provisional order barring the police from interfering with activities of parishioners aligned to Bishop Chad Gandiya of the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA).

The court said the worshippers should be allowed to use the church’s facilities without interference from the police. It also ordered police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri and the co-Ministers of Home Affairs Cde Kembo Mohadi and Mr Giles Mutsekwa to stop directing the police to interfere with the parishioners.

Cde Chihuri was found in contempt of court for violating an earlier order granted by Justice Rita Makarau allowing the sharing of church properties between Archbishop Nolbert Kunonga and his rivals.

The latest ruling brings to an end fights that had been erupting between followers of Archbishop Kunonga and those of Bishop Gandiya over the use of church properties.

more here.

Of course this brings nothing to an end. One step forwards, two steps back. The law is only as effective as it is capable of enforcement - and when the police and other enforcement agencies place obedience to political masters above obedience to the courts the law is completely impotent.

The maxim that law needs force is true everywhere. Which is why the attitude of successive British Home Secretaries and Immigration Ministers to the judgements of the courts in relation to asylum is so profoundly disturbing: they have effectively subordinated the English legal system to the whim of politicians, often denying claimants justice.

Conversely force needs law for legitimacy - hence the deep betrayals of the 45-minute dossier and the Attorney General's legal opinion on the lawfulness of the Iraq war and also the suppression of enquiries into corruption in BAE systems (now, I think, being re-opened).

Zimbabwe, like so many other countries, is in the grip of a powerful faction which rules by terror in the sole interests of retaining power. But what repeatedly impresses me about Zimbabweans is their tenacious grip on the belief in the rule of law and the possibility of justice. Despite all the evidence, at the end of the newspaper report -

The Dean of the Anglican Cathedral, Rev Farai Mutamiri of the CPCA faction, said they were using the premises based on Justice Makarau’s judgment.

“We are co-sharing the premises as was granted by Justice Makarau last year. It is also mind-boggling why police would enforce a court order when it is supposed to be the messenger of court aided by the police,” said Rev Mutamiri.

Send a Christmas card to Harare

A Canadian winter for Christmas in Harare

From the Anglican Journal




This Advent, Canadian Anglicans are being invited to send a Christmas card as a show of solidarity to the new bishop of Harare, Chad Gandiya/Bishop Gandiya and members of his diocese continue to face challenges resulting from internal church divisions and political violence in Zimbabwe.


The diocese of Keewatin is sending a personalized card that is a print of a painting by its bishop, David Ashdown. The card, which can be downloaded here, depicts a winter landscape in Canada’s north.


“We invite you to download the [card], add your personal greeting, sign it and send it electronically to Bishop Gandiya at chadgandiya@googlemail.com or by surface mail to: The Right Reverend Chad Gandiya, 9 Monmouth Road, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe.