The former Bishop of Harare has lodged an appeal of a High Court judgment ordering him to pay $428,000 to the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
The former Bishop of Harare, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga, has lodged an appeal of a High Court judgment ordering him to pay $427,892 to the Church of the Province of Central Africa. On 18 Nov 2015 Harare High Court Judge Nicholas Mathonsi ordered Dr Kunonga and four others to pay repay the church, plus interest and court costs, the value of shares owned by the diocese but sold by the bishop and his cronies. In 2007 Dr. Kunonga withdrew the diocese from the province to form the Anglican Church of Zimbabwe after ecclesiastical proceedings were instituted to investigate the controversial bishop on charges of fraud, heresy and attempted murder. After a series of legal battles in 2012 the Supreme Court ruled in favor the Province against Dr. Kunonga, and the Mugabe regime government removed its protection from the breakaway bishop. The ruling, portions of which were excerpted in the Harare Herald, stated that when Dr. Kunonga quit the Church of the Province of Central Africa, he lost control over the church’s assets and had no right of control over church property. On 27 Nov 2015 Dr Kunonga’s attorneys asked the court to reconsider its ruling and indicated they would ask for Supreme Court review of the decision.
