Zimbabwe court ejects breakaway bishop from church property: The Church of England Newspaper, May 28, 2010 p 8

First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Church of the Province of Central Africa won a major legal victory last week in its fight to regain property held by the breakaway bishop Dr. Nolbert Kunonga and his allies, when a Harare court held that all church property of the Diocese of Manicaland belonged to the province, and not to Dr. Kunonga’s ally Bishop Elson Jakazi.

In a ruling handed down on May 19, High Court Judge Chinembiri Bhunu ruled that Bishop Jakazi lost his claim to oversee diocesan property when he quit the church to join Dr. Kunonga’s Anglican Church of Zimbabwe. An ally of former Harare Bishop, on Sept 23, 2007 Bishop Jakazi joined Dr. Nolbert Kunonga in writing to Archbishop Bernard Malango saying their dioceses had withdrawn from Central Africa in protest to what they alleged was a pro-gay bias in the Province.

The dean of Central Africa, Bishop Albert Chama of Northern Zambia responded that it “was impossible for them to withdraw the dioceses” and on Oct 19, 2007 the Central African bishops declared the two “were no longer bishops”  of the CPCA.

In April 2008 the former Bishop of Harare, the Rt. Rev. Peter Hatendi was appointed interim bishop of Manicaland, and on July 24, 2009 the diocesan synod elected Dr. Julius Makoni as bishop.  However, Bishop Jakazi in 2008 retracted his declaration of independence from the CPCA and had sought to block the election of a successor through the courts.  When that stratagem failed, he asked a court to declare him the trustee of the property as Bishop of Manicaland for Dr. Kunonga’s new province.

In his decision, Judge Bhunu wrote that “Once [Bishop Jakazi’s] resignation letter was received by the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Central Africa the first applicant automatically ceased to be an employee or member of that church organisation without any further formalities.

“Having ceased to be an employee of the church organization he automatically stripped himself of any rights and privileges arising from the contract of employment, membership or his status as a bishop of that church organization,” the court held, dismissing Bishop Jakazi’s application with costs.

The judge held that Bishop Jakazi was not dismissed but voluntarily withdrew from the CPCA. “That being the case, he can hardly be heard to complain or cry foul. Any appeal or review which he may launch means he is appealing or seeking a review of his own conduct. This is wholly untenable and illogical such that it must be incompetent at law,” the judge said.

Judge Bhunu’s decision will likely have an impact on the pending litigation between Dr. Kunonga and the CPCA’s Diocese of Harare over the control of diocesan property.   The Diocese has advanced similar legal arguments against Dr. Kunonga that were offered in the Jakazi case.  While the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal earlier this month of the dicoese’s case, this was over technical irregularities in its pleading, rather than in the substance of its arguments, lawyers for the province note.

Judge Bhunu has shown an independent spirit in recent weeks, ruling against cronies of the Mugabe regime like Bishop Jakazi, as well as against the government in a highly politicized “show trial.”  On May 10, the Judge dismissed charges of insurgency, banditry, terrorism and sabotage leveled by the government against Deputy Agriculture Minister-Designate and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Treasurer-General, Senator Roy Bennett.