In a letter to overseas supporters, the Bishop of Harare, Dr. Chad Gandiya reports no let up in the the battle with breakaway bishop Dr. Nolbert Kunonga.
“Our people continue to endure the harsh exile from their churches but cry ‘for how long’?” Dr. Gandiya wrote on Nov 17. “While some denominations have offered some of our congregations the use of their church buildings, others we hear rent our buildings from Dr. Kunonga. “642-885
On Nov 16, the Kunonga faction attempted to seize control of Bishop Gaul Theological College in Harare. However, Dr. Gandiya reported that “for the first time in a very long time, the police protected our students from Kunonga’s people,” and rebuffed the invaders
The Bishop of Harare added there “haven’t been any running battles with the police lately because our people have stopped insisting on worshiping in their church buildings. A lot of our church buildings are now being used by Dr. Kunonga as schools and colleges while vestries have been turned into residential homes. What was once sacred space for us is now profane space.”
In a Dec 3 report, the Zimbabwean newspaper, NewsDay, reported that many of the churches seized by Dr. Kunonga were being used as businesses. Fifteen churches visited by reporters had been turned into fee-paying schools, one had been rented out as a “phone shop” while a second as a “sewing shop.” St Michael’s Church in Mbare had been rented to another denomination, while St Mary in Highlands, St Christopher in Rugare and St Mary’s Church in Cranborne were padlocked, the newspaper found.642-883
Extracted from C of E Newspaper report of Dec 10, 2010