Kunonga thugs barricade cathedral once again

By Lance Guma
12 February 2008

The drama in the Anglican Church continues unabated with reports that thugs aligned to ousted Bishop Nolbert Kunonga barricaded the main cathedral Sunday to block a service by followers of new Bishop Sebastian Bakare. A High Court order put in place a 90-minute separation between services led by Kunonga and those led by Bakare, but so far Kunonga’s camp is violating that arrangement. St Mary’s cathedral in Harare was once again the scene of devilish behaviour as a rowdy mob of Kunonga ‘parishioners’ blocked a second service that was supposed to follow soon after theirs. Police had to be called in to restore order after Kunonga’s people, led by Reverend Morris Brown Gwedegwe, blocked Bakare’s followers from entering the building.

Disregarding the court order Rev Gwedegwe vowed they would not open the doors to the church. He told journalists, ‘I told them we are not going to open the church. If they want to share the buildings they can go to the parishes, not the chief's place. For those who want to pray, services will be held here every Sunday between 7:00 and 11:00am but under Bishop Kunonga. We do not want people here. They wanted to force their way in, but we stopped them. How can you enthrone a chief where there is already a chief.’ Meanwhile Bishop Bakare castigated Kunonga for his behaviour saying it was damaging the image of the church. Speaking on our Behind the Headlines series Bakare’s said it was clear Kunonga has the backing of Zanu PF and the police, given the impunity he displays; ‘The politicians expelled Simba Makoni for contesting as an independent yet the same politicians expect a Bishop, who withdrew himself from the province, to remain a member of the church.’

Last week 69 members of the ‘Mother’s Union’ tried to evict a Kunonga priest in Glen View. The women from St Andrews parish are accused of destroying property at Rev Martin Zifoti’s home. Bakare however says the women as parishioners are the rightful owners of the rectory and had every right to demand his eviction since he was part of Kunonga’s breakaway and had no legal right to use the property. Rev Zifoti also allegedly incurred the wrath of the women after he threw their choir clothes outside the church. Police moved quickly to arrest the women and Bakare says this shows their double standards, because Kunonga who is blocking the cathedral every Sunday has not been arrested.
NB: The full interview with Bishop Sebastian Bakare can be heard on Behind the Headlines this week Thursday.