Kunonga at it again

HARARE - THE CONTROVERSIAL Anglican Bishop of Harare has cancelled church services on Sunday to mark the occasion of his wedding anniversary and instructed clergy and congregations to contribute gifts and food to his party.

Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, a vocal supporter of President Robert Mugabe, will lead the day-long celebration of his 33rd anniversary. The party, at a sports centre, will be held at a time when many priests are barely able to survive the hardships of living in Zimbabwe, with its hyper-inflation and food shortages.

Bishop Kunonga was accused last year at an ecclesiastical trial of dozens of charges, including incitement to murder a priest, intimidation and bringing the Church into contempt. But a mistrial was declared when the proceedings collapsed within hours as the accused refused to accept evidence provided by a witness by a video-link to London.

He denied the charges brought under Church law and faced no separate criminal charges. Bon Stumbles, the Chancellor of the Harare diocese, who survived a purge of whites within the Anglican hierarchy, described next Sunday's event as a "wedding spree".

"Holding Sunday services seems to have been cast aside in the interests of personal magnification," said Mr Stumbles.

The Daily Telegraph