The Church of the Province of Central Africa has postponed the resignation of the Bishop of Manicaland, the Rt. Rev. Julius Makoni, saying he must remain in office until March 1. On 29 January 2015 the province’s House of Bishops meeting in Harare accepted the bishop’s resignation dated 19 November 2014, but said the canons required him to remain in office during the transition. Elected Bishop of Manicaland in 2009, Bishop Makoni had been the managing director of NMB Bank in London before his appointment. He succeeded the Rt. Rev. Elson Jakazi after the later attempted to align the diocese with the breakaway bishop of Harare, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga. No reason for the bishop’s resignation was given in his letter, provincial sources tell Anglican Ink. However, a woman who identified herself as the bishop’s wife told AI Bishop Makoni had been remarried in a church ceremony following their bitter divorce. A second church marriage while a former spouse is living is seldom permitted in the Central African church.
