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.
Kunonga was given legal custody of church property by the Supreme Court last year and is using that to evict rival members of the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) led by Bishop Chad Gandiya.
Since his excommunication, Kunonga has taken possession of several Anglican Church buildings around the country, claiming sole custody of the property.
This church is in an area of Harare that in southern African parlance is Coloured, meaning people of mixed race descent. They have had to endure (in the past) white racism and rejection by black people. I am so sorry to hear of this blow to the congregation – they have had enough to contend with as it is. The sad truth is that with the courts, the armed forces and the police in the hands of Mugabe’s government, it doesn’t matter that he cedes some authority to the democratic opposition of Morgan Tsvangirai. With the judicial system in his hands, Mugabe and his cronies can continue the looting of their own country. I hear, anyway, that following the death of Tsvangirai’s wife in a car crash he has struggled to come to terms with things. (There is a long tradition of people opposed to Mugabe dying in traffic wrecks. In this case Tsvangirai himself was in the car and is widely supposed to have been the target. He himself has since said that he believes it was a genuine accident, but public opinion seems to have come to a different conclusion.)
Prayers for our Anglican brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. Rowan Williams’ efforts didn’t come to much, although at least he made the effort to support them. No thanks to the faux Bishop of Salisbury.