Ousted Bishop Kunonga goes berserk in church

By Lance Guma
18 January 2008

As more information filters through on the dramatic clashes within the Anglican Church last weekend, it turns out that ousted Bishop Nolbert Kunonga personally resorted to violence, in order to disrupt one of many services in the capital. According to a report by the Zimbabwe Independent a service in Greendale was interrupted when Kunonga, his wife and a number of bodyguards entered the church before the 8am start time. The paper quoted a parishioner saying, ‘as our front servers prepared for mass and as we waited for Bishop Bakare and our rector to emerge from the vestry, Kunonga unashamedly, and in full view of the congregation, walked to the altar, grabbed the wine, cups and wafers, threw them on the ground, grabbed a chair, placed it right in front of the altar and sat cross-legged, defiantly gazing at the stunned congregation.’

Earlier in the week a rector in the church, Thomas Madeyi, was arrested for allegedly disrupting ‘Kunonga’s service’. He was thrown into the cells at Rhodesville Police station. Madeyi was later released after prosecutors conceded there was no case to answer. The Zimbabwe Independent however reports that Kunonga caused the fracas after he went to the church and physically wrestled Madeyi for the keys to the building. Several services failed to take off in areas like Malborough, Greendale, Belvedere, Warren Park and Glen View with Kunonga’s supporters (mainly state security operatives) threatening parishioners and vowing not to recognise Sebastian Bakare, the new bishop who was appointed by the Anglican Province of Central Africa.

Kunonga’s conduct since being appointed to the Harare diocese has thrown the Church into turmoil. He has openly supported Mugabe’s controversial land grab, benefited from a farm himself, threatened priests who opposed him and is further accused of abusing church funds. A church trial collapsed after his defence team kept throwing up legal obstacles to the process. Matters came to a head at a meeting in Malawi last year when Kunonga decided to unilaterally withdraw the diocese from the Province of Central Africa. His excuse centred on the debate over how to treat homosexuality in the church. Following that withdrawal the province dismissed him and also withdrew his clergyman’s licence. The current clashes in Harare are a result of Kunonga defying this dismissal and attempting to undermine his replacement, Bishop Bakare.

Meanwhile on Friday Bishop Bakare was said to be at the High Court, as the Province of Central Africa sought an interdict to block Kunonga from interfering with their services. A priest who spoke to Newsreel said they are seeking court help to block Kunonga from terrorising their parishioners. He expressed disappointment that with just a few weeks to go before elections, which are normally characterised by violence, it is within the Anglican Church that violence is taking place.