Scandal of proposed illegal election for new Bishop of Lake Malawi

News reaching ANGLICAN-INFORMATION from reliable sources confirms our previous releases that acting Dean of the Central African Province, Bishop Albert Chama, is continuing with his plans to force a new election for bishop on the Diocese of Lake Malawi.

Plans to summon the ‘Elective Assembly’ on 15th February in Malosa, Diocese of Upper Shire look increasingly like an attempt at electoral fraud. The holding of such an election in another diocese is considered uncanonical but presumably is a contrivance to keep the clergy and people away from the proceedings.

No announcement or notice has been given of this forthcoming process to the clergy, laity or parishes of the Diocese of Lake Malawi who have the constitutional right
(Canon 6 - 8b) to be advised and to submit names for election.

Readers will recall that a previously synodically agreed decision to put the matter of the election of the Bishop of Lake Malawi to a Provincial Court, arranged under the then Dean, Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana, were uncanonically overthrown by some of the Provincial Bishops who arbitrarily decided to bypass synodical processes in favour of a contrived new election. Thus the intention on the part of Bishop Chama to hold a new ‘election’ builds illegality on illegality.

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION observes further that there appears to be only one candidate for the ‘election’ in February – the Rev’d Henry M’baya, a Malawian currently working in South Africa. M’baya who is unpopular in the Diocese of Lake Malawi was the former Archbishop Bernard Malango’s preferred candidate for the original election in July 2005 but finished a distant nowhere in the result, despite open attempts at bribery including promising cars (which never materialised) to the clergy.

It is difficult to see how Bishop Chama can have the moral affrontary to proceed with an attempted deception of the priests and people that is comparable to the mischievous and illegal breaking away from the Province of Central Africa as undertaken by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga of Harare, Zimbabwe. The two bishops were formerly close allies and friends – their shared methodology continues at least.

It is most unwise of the bishops of the Province to allow the process of a sham election to continue as it will result in dangerous frustration and unrest and give Henry M’baya no more status than that of ‘episcopus vagans’ unable to exercise any authority.

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