The Tanzanian House of Bishops will meet on 21 Nov 2016 in Dar es Salaam to take up the case of the Rt. Rev. Valentino Mokiwa

The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Tanzania will meet on 21 Nov 2016 in Dar es Salaam to take up the case of the Rt. Rev. Valentino Mokiwa — Bishop of Dar es Salaam and former primate of the province. Bishop Mokiwa stands accused of malfeasance in the conduct of church affairs. The bishop is alleged to have leased to commercial developers for 40 years over three dozen diocesan properties without the consent of the diocesan standing committee or synod. He is accused of pocketing the $2.7 million in proceeds. On 23 May a provincial standing committee team charged with investigating the complaint met with the bishop seeking an explanation for the transactions, and will present the results of their investigations to next week’s meeting. On 24 May 2016 a Tanzanian civil court ruled it had no jurisdiction to hear a complaint against Bishop Mokiwa, holding an ecclesiastical tribunal was the proper venue.  Bishop Mokiwa’s allies have denied he has acted inappropriately and claim the charges are motivated by political concerns surrounding the 2018 election for a new primate of Tanzania.  If the bishops find he acted inappropriately, sources in the church tell Anglican Ink that he would be removed from the ministry.