THE Bishop of Manicaland, Dr Julius Makoni, has resigned, amid
complaints about his treatment of priests, a payout of $80,000, and
his conduct in his personal life.
The Bishop of Central Zimbabwe, the Rt Revd Ishmael Mukuwanda,
confirmed last week that Dr Makoni had handed in his resignation,
effective from 1 March. The Manica Post reported last
Friday that he had accepted a position at the IMF.
Dr Makoni, the other Bishops of Zimbabwe, and the Archbishop of
Central Africa, the Most Revd Albert Chama, were all contacted for
comment, but none responded.
A letter to Archbishop Chama dated 9 February and signed by 41
"disgruntled diocese of Manicaland laity" complains that the
Standing Committee of the diocese has "clandestinely" paid Dr
Makoni $80,000, out of the $427,000 he allegedly demanded, said to
be owed to him by the diocese.
"We . . . write to pass a vote of no confidence in our Diocesan
Standing Committee and all its committees," the letter begins. "It
has come to our ears that the outgoing bishop of our diocese has
demanded a lot of money and the standing committee and its
sub-committees have failed to stop the looting." It refers to
"chaos reigning in Manicaland" and calls for an "emergency external
audit" to be conducted.
It is understood that Archbishop Chama visited Zimbabwe on
Sunday to hear the allegations.
In June last year, Archbishop Chama ordered Dr Makoni to
reinstate the licences of two priests who complained about his
behaviour (News,
26 September 2014). Dr Makoni was told that his action had been
"clearly inappropriate". The priests had raised concerns about the
Bishop's divorcing his wife and the fact that he was a
"non-resident Bishop" who "spends most of his time away".
They reported that clergy had not received their stipend for
three months, and, in a second letter, complained of
"victimisation" by the Bishop, including "a barrage of . . .
threatening calls".
In 1996 Dr Makoni fathered a child by another woman during
his marriage. His ex-wife, Pauline Makoni, sought a divorce in
London in 2010. The divorce was finalised in
December 2014. It is understood that Dr Makoni is
challenging a ruling that awarded a house in Harare to Mrs Makoni,
and that he continues to reside there.