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Shameful
silence on Nolbert Kunonga, Anglican Bishop of Harare
Sokwanele
January 05, 2006
http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/nolbertkunonga_05jan2006.html
On 21st September
2004 we published an article entitled "His
disgrace, the Bishop" in which we drew attention to the disgraceful
conduct of the Anglican Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, in not
only accepting St Marnock's Farm, a once-thriving commercial enterprise
in Nyabiri as a token of personal thanks from Robert Mugabe for
his uncritical and unwavering support for ZANU PF, but then promptly
arranging for party militia to brutally evict 40 families of workers
from their dwellings in a village on the farm. We suggested at the
time that rather than "His grace the Bishop" a more appropriate
appellation would be "His disgrace the Bishop".
This was neither
the first nor by any means the last action of the errant cleric
to bring shame on his church. From the time of his disputed election
as Bishop of Harare in 2001 to the present he has made no secret
either of his personal ambitions for fame and fortune or of his
willingness to exploit his sycophantic relationship to Robert Mugabe
and the ruling elite to feed those ambitions. The episcopal election
itself was shrouded in mystery and marred by widespread allegations
that Kunonga had used his influence with the ruling party to secure
the post. Certainly he has not lost an opportunity since to sing
the praises of his hero, Mugabe, or to make life extremely uncomfortable
for those within the church who would dare to raise a voice of dissent.
At least 12 priests have left the Harare Diocese as a direct result
of the bishop's political machinations.
In August 2005
he appeared before an ecclesiastical court to face 38 charges arising
from scores of complaints (all but three of which were from black
parishioners). The charges included incitement to murder, intimidating
critics, ignoring church law, mishandling church funds and bringing
militant ZANU PF politics to the pulpit. In December the court hearing
before a Malawian judge collapsed in disarray without proper explanation
and the head of the Anglican Province of Central Africa, Archbishop
Amos Malingo of Zambia, then informed church leaders in the province
that the case against Kunonga had been dropped. The unsatisfactory
outcome of the case has again raised questions of the extent of
ZANU PF's political leverage within the Anglican Church.
In what may
not have been an unrelated incident, Bishop Kunonga recently went
out of his way to ingratiate himself with Vice President Joseph
Msika. Msika who is a long-standing member of the Anglican Church
was on 16th December, at the instigation of the bishop, appointed
a lay minister. According to the report of the ceremony which appeared
in the ZANU PF-controlled newspaper, The Herald, Msika's appointment
was "one of the highest honours the church can confer upon an individual"
and was given in recognition of "the sterling work he had done for
both the church and the country".
According to
the same report in The Herald, Msika indicated that he felt "very
humbled" by the church's gesture. His humility however, or lack
of it, is not the point. The point is rather that prior to this
event the common understanding in the Anglican Communion (and other
churches) was that the appointment of a member of the church as
a lay minister or "reader" connoted simply a willingness of that
member to serve under the authority and discipline of the church.
The term "minister" means one who serves, and in the church invariably
in response to a divine call to a particular work. The term describes
a particular role or office within the church and was never intended
as a mark of status or honour. Indeed to suggest as Kunonga does
that it implies an elevated status based on meritorious achievement
(rather like an honorary degree conferred by a university) reduces
it to a caricature of the real thing - and one would have expected
that a bishop of all people would have known better.
Moreover in
the Anglican tradition a lay minister or reader is a local appointment
normally made by the rector in consultation with the lay leadership
of the parish church. Here again Kunonga appears to be casting aside
long-standing tradition to fashion a new creature of his own making.
That the appointment of Msika to this office should be made by the
bishop and that the bishop should say (as he is reported in The
Herald) that "the honour mandated Cde Msika to preach, officiate
and perform other duties as may be directed by the bishop at any
church in or under the jurisdiction of the Harare diocese" is totally
unprecedented. The inference is inescapable; in his feverish haste
to ingratiate himself with his political masters, Kunonga has once
again made clear his willingness to ride roughshod over hallowed
church tradition. Indeed one may well speculate that his efforts
to legitimize an illegitimate regime are closely linked to the more
than convenient dropping of the extremely serious charges which
were pending against him in the ecclesiastical courts.
But there was
even more that emerged from the bizarre proceedings that took place
at St Alban's Mission in Chiweshe on 16th December. The Herald report
mentions in passing that four assistant priests were ordained at
the same time. Our enquiries however have revealed that the four
priests in question neither attended Gaul House in Harare, the normal
training centre for Anglican priests, nor did they receive any other
recognised theological training. In effect Bishop Kunonga is ordaining
untrained men to the priesthood, and this we understand as a deliberate
strategy to counter the influence of those who, in passing through
the Gaul House preparation for ministry, have acquired a measure
of political objectivity and spiritual maturity. Kunonga's tactics
here resemble nothing so much as the ZANU PF tactics in appointing
their "green bombers" or brainwashed thugs to take over from the
professionals wherever it suits them.
In short, the
conduct of this delinquent bishop raises very serious questions
for the Anglican Church. Given that the incitement to murder and
other charges against Kunonga have now been dropped by the ecclesiastical
courts, and without satisfactory explanation, the question is what
other steps may be taken in to rein in such a church leader who
is clearly abusing his powers shamelessly for his own personal advantage.
At a time when Zimbabweans are in desperate need of clear moral
guidance (and example) from the Church, here we have a caricature
of a spiritual leader. Is the Anglican Church unaware of the huge
damage he is inflicting on both church and nation? Or do they not
care? Strangely we hear not a murmur of concern or disquiet from
any other leader of that denomination.
His disgrace
Bishop Kunonga is bringing untold shame upon the church. Yet even
more shameful is the silence of those we might have expected to
challenge or confront this eccentric cleric. A Latin proverb comes
to mind: "Qui tacet consentire videtur", or in common English: "He
who keeps silent apparently approves".
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