Kunonga hides behind homosexual debate in Anglican saga

Posted by on Monday, October 10, 2011 in Kunonga | 2 comments

By Lance Guma
10 October 2011

A trip to Zimbabwe by the head of the Anglican Church worldwide has provided renegade Bishop Nolbert Kunonga with an international platform to hide his seizure of church property behind the controversy of gay priests in the church.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in Harare

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams arrived in Zimbabwe by road from Zambia on Sunday and addressed over 15 000 parishioners gathered at the City Sports Centre in Harare. But Kunonga, who was excommunicated after an attempt to withdraw his Diocese from the main church in August 2007, responded with a demonstration against homosexuality.

In 2007 Kunonga unsuccessfully tried to withdrew his diocese from the Church Province of Central Africa (CPCA) claiming it was over differences on the ordination of gay priests. Without the necessary two thirds majority support he still went ahead to unilaterally withdraw the diocese and form his own church. With tacit support from the Mugabe regime he also went on to seize Anglican property.

Since 2008 Kunonga has seized over 90 properties belonging to the church, including the main Cathedral in Harare, 19 primary and secondary schools and several orphanages around the country.
Although many international news agencies are reporting this Anglican split as being based on a disagreement about homosexuality, SW Radio Africa has reported over the past 5 years that this dispute in the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has nothing to do with this issue.

Kunonga has in fact advanced his own agenda and now calls himself an archbishop, in total control of all the church’s assets and funds. He has openly declared his support for Robert Mugabe and given a farm as reward.
Kunonga has been able to rely on war vets, police, state security agents and ZANU PF militias to build up his breakaway church while harassing and intimidating legitimate parishioners.
On Sunday Dr Williams dealt with the crisis over the church property in his speech and spoke to supporters saying: “It is not the buildings that makes the church but the spiritual foundation of your faith.”

“Day by day you’re faced with an enemy driven by self-enrichment and lies… We thank God for your patience. You know very well, dear brothers and sisters, what it means to have doors locked in your faces by those who claim the name of Christians and Anglicans. You know how those, who by their greed and violence, have refused the grace of God try to silence your worship and frustrate your witness in the churches and schools and hospitals of this country,” Williams added.

Meanwhile Kunonga convened a press conference at the Anglican Cathedral at which he said: “Williams coming will not make the CPCA get in the church buildings, look we are here in the Cathedral and they are meeting at the Sports Centre. I am the owner of this (ndini muridzi wazvo). Gandiya is showing off with a white man and I do not care. This is not the end of Kunonga,” he boasted.
SW Radio Africa spoke to Precious Shumba who works as a Press Officer for Bishop Chad Gandiya, the man who effectively is the legitimate head of the Church in the Harare Diocese, the position formerly held by Kunonga. Shumba described Kunonga’s seizure of property as akin to “an employee resigning from a company, then claiming that he should take over the properties of that company.”

“What single church did Kunonga build during his reign as Bishop? The majority of churches were built by parishioners without any input from Kunonga and his thugs,” Shumba told SW Radio Africa.
He also confirmed that Robert Mugabe on Monday met with Archbishop Williams to discuss the problems in the Anglican Church. A press conference was set to be held to announce details of that meeting but at the time of going on air no information had been received.

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  • Arthur Chagadama

    The Anglican Church Saga in Zimbabwe
    Some ill-informed or misguided people refer to a split in the Anglican Church with followers aligning themselves to one diocese led by Bishop Chad Gandiya and others to another led by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga. Others talk and write about there now being a Kunonga faction and a Gandiya faction in the Anglican Church.
    There is no such thing. The truth is that Kunonga, who was Bishop of Harare, rebelled against the Church, was kicked out and formed his own church which can never be an Anglican church. In Zimbabwe there is today one Anglican Church, which has so far proved to be very united. Officially it is known as the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa – which covers Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

    When Kunonga was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Harare in 1997, he was a strong Zanu (PF) supporter, who hero- worshiped President Robert Mugabe.
    Anglicans saw nothing wrong about this since the church was composed of people supporting different political parties. However, their support for him turned into dismay for he immediately went about “decolonizing” the Church by preaching hatred against whites.

    He even removed plaques from the Anglican Cathedral walls of those who founded and contributed to the building of the cathedral because they were “white colonialists”. In fact, he was attempting to turn the Church into a Zanu (PF) supporting political institution. This was at a time when other Christian leaders, notably, Bishop Pius Ncube of the Roman Catholic Church
    were criticising Mugabe’s government for its human rights excesses.

    In 2003, the Zanu (PF) government gave Kunonga a 1,630-acre farm with a seven-bedroom house, worth over $1 million as a reward for his efforts in promoting the party. It had been confiscated from its white owner without compensation.

    Church leaders rebuked Kunonga for preaching partisan politics from the pulpit. His response was to pour scorn on them. There was nothing they could do. They decided that he was not fit to be a Bishop of the Anglican Church and dethroned him in January, 2008. Kunonga did not accept his dethronement with humility. Instead, he decided to form his own church.

    Kunonga, like all Zimbabweans, knew that Mugabe, hated homosexuality. He, therefore, announced that he was breaking away from the Anglican Church because it condoned homosexuality. This was, of course a blatant lie. The Anglican Church was left with no option but to excommunicate him and consecrate retired Bishop Sebastian Bakare to replace him.

    Kunonga left the Church with about 50 followers to form what he calls the Anglican Church of the Province of Zimbabwe. It would have been more realistic if he had called it the Mbuya Nehanda Church of Zimbabwe.

    He refused to accept his dismissal and insisted that he was still bishop of Harare and that all church properties belonged to him. Most Church members refused to support him, even some leading Zanu (PF) supporters in and out of government. Kunonga, however, had the support of President Mugabe for it was he who had administered the oath of office to Mugabe after the questionable 2008 presidential re-run which was boycotted by Morgan Tsvangirai because of
    violence. The dethronement of Kunonga might, therefore, have led some to question Mugabe’s own legitimacy as President.

    When Bishop Bakare assumed his duties at the Anglican Cathedral in Harare, Kunonga retaliated by unleashing violence against Anglican worshipers. In this he was assisted by Zanu (PF) thugs and the police. Worshipers were barred from entering Church buildings. Lay-leaders and priests were arrested and beaten.

    A court ruling by Justice Rita Makarau determined that the two groups should share the church buildings by worshipping at different times until a final determination by the High Court. After the ruling Kunonga continued to harass Anglican worshippers and one day even physically attacked Bishop Bakare. The police continued to support and assist him in violation of the
    court ruling.

    In March 2009, the whole country was shocked when a resident of Harare was shot and injured as police fought running battles with parishioners who wanted to worship in the Anglican Cathedral. After a while Canon Chad Gandiya was ordained Bishop of the Diocese of Harare and Bakare was able to go back into his deserved retirement.

    In July 2009, High Court Judge, Justice Ben Hlatshwayo ruled in favour of Kunonga in the property dispute. The newly consecrated Bishop Gandiya immediately appealed that ruling in the Supreme Court. Over a year later Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku shocked the world by upholding Hlatshwayo’s ruling granting Kunonga control over all Anglican assets in Harare.

    After the Chidyausiku ruling “all hell broke loose,” as the saying goes.
    Kunonga, with the help of the police, violently seized control of church properties including schools, churches, orphanages, rectories. Priests, nuns and teachers have been evicted from their homes and workplaces and have been replaced by suspected Zanu (PF) faithful s without any training at all.
    Kunonga has also been busy ordaining priests with no theological background at all.

    Some of the properties, including churches, have been turned into businesses and brothels. Hardly a day goes by without some newspaper headline screaming about some outrageous and unbecoming act by Kunonga. In actual fact, by his actions, he has proved that he has conclusively proved that he is neither a bishop nor a Christian.

    Kunonga is not acting in isolation. True, he is greedy for wealth and power but he is also part of a grand plan by the powers that be to control the whole organized Church – from the traditional missionary-founded denominations to the indigenous apostolic groups.

    What Kunonga and his allies are doing makes a lot of sense, warped as it may be. Eighty percent of Zimbabweans are professing Christians. That is a decisive vote in any political contest. Kunonga is not motivated by religious or spiritual fervour. He is just a key actor in a clever and vicious, but misguided, political strategy. In Zimbabwe the Anglican Church was regarded as dangerous because of its independence and influence as well as its umbilical connection to the hated British. All that had to be broken through the only method they know, which is violence.

    As I write, the violence against the Anglican Church has worsened. In a recent press release the Diocese detailed the turn of events in the whole country. It said, “Clergy and members of the laity belonging to the Anglican Diocese of Harare (CPCA) across Harare, Mashonaland West, East and Central have been receiving threats, constant harassment and lately severe beatings
    from Kunonga’s hooligans, masquerading as clergy, accompanied by “certainly hired thugs.” Many are now waiting, with much anticipation and bated breath, for the forthcoming visit to Zimbabwe of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is also head of the international Anglican Church Communion.

    Recently, Gandiya was brutalised by thugs in his own home and robbed of his laptop, money and cell phone at gunpoint. The arrest and persecution of Anglican priests and church leaders has also increased with savage intensity. However, in the midst of all this confusion and suffering, the bishop said he was encouraged by the faith, commitment and courage of his
    Anglican Church followers.

  • http://twitter.com/bigCmaz Maz

    Well said.