Central Africa: another election crisis?

Pat Ashworth reports in today’s Church Times that Anxiety about Zimbabwe diocese grows. An excerpt:

FEARS of a crisis similar to the one in Harare are being voiced about the election of a new Bishop of Manicaland, the largest diocese in Zimbabwe. The Archbishop of Central Africa, the Most Revd Bernard Malango, has called on church members to “desist from rigging elections and doctoring documents”.

Archbishop Malango was in Mutare last weekend for the election of members to the elective assembly, the body that will choose the new bishop. The election was cancelled at the last minute in June, after allegations of vote-rigging were confirmed ( News, 14 July). Documents had been tampered with to remove two names and substitute others who had not been elected to the assembly. The election was presided over by Mr Justice Kailaile, the judge who abandoned the trial of the Bishop of Harare, the Rt Revd Nolbert Kunonga, last year.

Insiders say that four of the six members on the assembly are interested in becoming Bishop. A source said on Tuesday: “How are they going to be able to do their assignment in a just, righteous, dignified, transparent, and professional manner when they are interested parties? Another problem, like the one in Harare diocese, is likely to occur.”

The earlier report is here.