Fight over Anglican bishop Malasa’s resignation rages on
At least 39 parishes under the Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire have appended their signatures to the petition demanding the resignation of their Bishop Bright Vita Malasa on grounds that he is driving the church to hell.
39 out of 41 parishes have joined hands to make their demand for Malasa to leave office, saying the church has turned ‘into his farm’ where he takes everything including financial and human resources as his family estate.
On the current stalemate regarding the position of the petitioners and status of the current bishop of the diocese, priests and Christians from 39 parishes said they are doing everything possible to remove Bishop Malasa from his position because of his poor leadership skills which they claim is undermining the growth of the church.
Addressing the media on Saturday at St. George Anglican Church in Zomba attended by representatives from all the concerned parishes, chairperson of the petitioners, John Awadi said they have followed all legal procedures to ensure contact and dialogue with Malasa but that the bishop was not willing to hold diplomatic discussions.
“Our only hope to resolve these issues was in the Diocesan Synod which was supposed to take place on August 9 and 10, 2019 but the bishop has chosen to postpone the meeting, citing lack of funds as the reason,” said Awadi.
Awadi said Bishop Malasa’s reason for postponement of the meeting was not genuine because the parishes have already raised their targets towards the meeting.
He also said the petitioners have noted that Bishop Malasa is using some tactics to avoid holding the synod because he does not want to be held accountable.
“We will not accept his delaying tactics since the synod is a constitutional requirement and is non-negotiable. We, therefore, maintain our demand that the meeting be held by September 30, 2019, failing which, petitioners will take unspecified action against him,” he said.
Rev. Fr. Dyson Chombo of Kholombidzo Parish who is also the former Arch Deacon of the diocese said they will hold demonstrations and vigil at Bishop Malasa’s house until he resigns if the synod will not take place by September 30.
Currently, 39 parishes have maintained steps of not paying quota to the diocese, not recognizing Bishop Malasa as their diocesan leader and parishes should not take instructions from the bishop and the diocese until the matter is resolved.
The petitioners’ unresolved demands include removing Brenda Maganga from the position of Diocesan Secretary, all boards to be chaired by competent and honest members instead of Bishop Malasa’s blind loyalists, institute forensic audit and stop harassing priests, among many other issues.
The demand for Bishop Malasa’s resignation started early last year by petitioners led by priests after noticing maladministration on the part of the bishop.
Previously, petitioners held demonstrations at the Anglican Diocese’s Headquarters in Malosa, Zomba where they sealed the bishop’s and diocesan secretary’s offices after presenting a petition to the head of the diocese.
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those so called rev fathers who are attacking malasa in that humiliation way are evil,are employed not called,
end of time indeed,men of God and politicians are now the same,lord have mercy
Abusa ansanje komaso osapota UTM ndi amene akudana ndi Malasa…Udindo amapereka ndi MULUNGU mwini wake….”chala chake chikaloza sichiloza molakwika”Even yourselves mulindizofoka zanu.Palibe wangwiro padziko pano
I cry for my Anglican Church. We need God’s intervention.
Long overdue, UYU NDI CADET WA DPP, VERY CORRUPT CHURCH leader.
Malasa also killing ADL with his love of allowances together with a CEO whose only experience is owning a chicken farm. Muhlakho stupidity!
ADL is already hopeless
Malasa is too self centered, a DPP stooge to be bishop. Bvumbwe’s comrade in greed he is.
Church ought to pray not demonstrate!!!! Otherwise the church is losing direction!!! Politics is at the center of the church here. A priest is ordained by God and only God can remove him!!!!
Cadet Malasa should humbly go………. kukakamila ngati Jane Ansah bwanji? mesa mukudya kale za dpp inu, asaaaaa
Zachikunja zikuchitkakazi. Are demos provided for in their constitution? Why wash their dirty linen in public? They should take a leaf from their mother church, the Catholic, where differences are sorted out internally.
You pole need prayers and deliverance.
let the court decide is the fashion now.
What the petitioners should be fighting for is not necessarily removal of the Bishop. They should be fighting for development of necessary policies and procedures that the Anglican Church can follow, through their Bishops, for example on issues to do with appointment of Board members, conditions of service for priests, audit guidelines for the Dioceses, procedures to appoint and remove Diocesan Secretary, procedures for appointing Bishops’ advisors, procedures on what needs to be done if these policies and procedures are violated etc. As Christians, they need to forgive one another and give one another a chance to move forward. The issue of demonstrations, though common in politics and other social/economic issues, is actually uncommon in the Church.
PHIRI NDIWE CHILIKUMZAKO NKUMATI CHIGWIRE MNYANGA – TAKE TIME TO FOLLOW THIS STORY BEFORE KUBWABWATA APA.
ALL YOUR KUBWATABWATA IS FAILING BECAUSE SOMEBODY HAS SEALED THE MOUTH OF WISDOM AND THE CHANNEL FOR LIGHT TO PASS THROUGH AND THIS IS WHY THESE PEOPLE ARE ANGRY!!
Malasa koma wanyanya dppsh too much.
Many thanks for writing. I have liked your reasoning. I am an Anglican by birth.
Phiri – while your reasoning is true in one sense, but in another sense what you are asking the petitioners to do is actually the duty of the bishop himself. The bishop should be the first person to safeguard the interests of the church, and not having to be put under checks and balances. The bishop should lead and guide development of policies and procedures and initiatives that secure the diocese’s safety, integrity and best interest – both present and future. The bishop has full mandate and lots of time to do things for which even future generations would remember him well.
Leaders lose their moral mandate when the followers don’t see their best interests being safeguarded and promoted. Moral mandate may be lost even when legal mandate is intact – and many leaders make the mistake of believing that they can survive only on the legal mandate. It is like the folly of riding a bicycle with one tyre – where the 2 tyres are moral/political mandate and legal mandate. Leadership is held on trust and when that trust has been breached, then the position is untenable. Even a legal redress cannot fix it – just as fixing the normal tyre on the bicycle wont cure the damaged one.
One symptom of a leaders that have lost moral/political mandate is kukakamira pa mpando.