Police action disturbs Bishop

By Staff Reporter
Saturday, 29 January 2011 17:53


HARARE - Bishop Chad Gandiya, head of the Church Province of Central Africa (CPCA) has expressed deep concern over a fresh order that gives the police power to restrict CPCA members from within a 200 metre radius of any of their Anglican church buildings. In his latest pastoral letter dated January 21 to the Anglican congregation , Bishop Gandiya, whose church is at war with the faction led by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga said he is “deeply disturbed by the prolonged suffering of our people at the hands of the police who continue to claim to be receiving orders ‘from above’ to prevent us from using our church buildings.”The Bishop said he was disturbed that on 16 January this year, police accompanied by two priests from Bishop Kunonga’s faction harassed CPCA parishioners who were attending a church service at the St Andrews Church in Chipadze, Bindura.He said the priests claimed that they had court orders to evict the CPCA church members from the church buildings but they could not produce them.

Bishop Kunonga’s faction, which defected from the main church a few years ago, continues to defy a High Court ruling that the two factions should share the church properties.An interim High Court order was issued on 4 June 2010 by High Court Judge Justice Mavangira saying the two factions must share the church properties pending the resolution of the matter in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is yet to make its ruling.Members of the Bishop Gandiya faction continue to be harassed by members of the Bishop Kunonga faction and many are attending church services in buildings belonging to other churches like the Catholic and Methodist for fear of being beaten up.Bishop Kunonga is a strong Zanu PF supporter who has benefitted from the land reform programme.

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