Zimbabwe: Anglican mission staff evicted, bishop robbed

Anglican clergy, teachers and medical staff were evicted from one of the country's oldest missions last week. The headmaster of Daramombe Mission Primary School, Mr Denford Javangwe, Rev Muyengwa Murombedzi and all senior nursing staff at the Daramombe Mission Clinic were told to leave, under the instructions of the breakaway Bishop Nolbert Kunonga.

The evictions were enforced by the police who have supported the renegade Bishop Kunonga since he was excommunicated from the Anglican Church in 2007. A court judgment has given the board of trustees he heads, custody of Anglican properties.

Bishop Chad Gandiya, head of the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa's Harare diocese, was robbed on Thursday night, when men entered his home in Harare and took about $800, two laptops and mobile phones. No-one was physically hurt. Another Anglican clergyman, Rev Julius Zimbudzana from Highlands, was arrested on Wednesday and kept in police custody overnight accused of stealing church property worth more than a million dollars. He was released without charge on Thursday evening.

A Zimbabwean church spokesman told SW Radio: "We will not be discouraged and we will not be deterred by harassment and persecution. All this will come to an end."

On Thursday Lambeth Palace announced that the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is planning to visit Zimbabwe next month, as part of a pastoral visit which will also include Malawi and Zambia.

Dr Wiilliams has requested a meeting with President Robert Mugabe. Dr Williams' spokeswoman said that he "will meet with bishops, clergy, and is going to be looking at church development initiatives in all three countries.

"The aim of the trip as a whole is a pastoral visit and it's to show solidarity with Anglicans there, that's really the aim of the trip."

Source: SW Radio. BBC