Anglicans seal Bishop’s office
By Yohane Symon:
Some concerned Christians under the Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire have sealed Bishop Brighton Malasa’s office at the Diocese’s headquarters at Chilema in Zomba, following the collapse of dialogue between the two parties’ representatives.
Before sealing the offices, the disgruntled members presented a petition to a visibly calm Malasa who stood at the gate of his house which armed police officers guarded heavily.
In the letter, the Anglican followers are demanding that Malasa should quit with immediate effect due to alleged mismanagement of the diocese’s affairs as well as corruption allegations.
Earlier in the morning, the concerned members were expected to meet the church’s leaders led by Zambia- based Provincial Secretary for Anglican Church responsible for Central Africa, William Mchombo,to address the concerns.
But the meeting was scheduled to February 6 2019, a development which angered the members who had gathered at St George Parish Complex in Zomba City.
The concerned members feel that the church is taking them for granted due to its failure to resolve their concerns and demands to either suspend or fire Malasa.
As the leaders for the concerned members were discussing the way forward following the scheduled meeting, some representative who came from 37 of the 41 parishes under the diocese kept dancing and singing anti- Malasa songs.
Some of the disgruntled members wore T-shirts and hoisted placards bearing messages such as “We are tired of a corrupt Bishop.”
St George Parish warden who has been chairing the meetings, George Sakwiza, said they want the church’s leadership to appoint another Bishop to replace Malasa who, he said, has lost the trust of the flock he leads.
“By sealing the offices, we are making a statement to the leadership that we do not want to continue being under a Bishop who is not willing to respect the church. We are not happy with the way he appointed the diocesan secretary, among other mismanagement issues,” Sakwiza said.
“Second, we are not happy with him chairing almost all different boards under the diocese because, as a bishop,we believe he was supposed to only be receiving reports from chairs and not him chairing the boards as is the case now. The other issue is on the finances. All the foreign and local donations are held by him and not accounted for, hence we want him to resign immediately”.
If he does not resign, Sakwiza said the members will regroup to discuss another course of action until Masala resigns.
Malasa refused to comment on the issue.
A vibrant writer who gives a great insight on hot topics and issues
