ZIMBABWE: An Anglican bishop who is a strong supporter of President Robert Mugabe has been brought before an ecclesiastical court in Harare investigating charges ranging from inciting murder to besmirching the church.
The Anglican Church of Central Africa on Tuesday convened a trial under canon law at which the Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, became the first Anglican priest on the continent in over 100 years to face prosecution by his peers.
The case was the culmination of a long series of disputes between Bishop Kunonga and parishioners and other members of the clergy who brought the charges.
The local Anglican Church was unable to fund the prosecution due to the economic hardships gripping the southern African country. International donations from around the world, however, were successfully secured to pay for the process.
Other charges alleged Bishop Kunonga intimidated and improperly fired 19 priests or church officials, ignored church law, dismissed heads of most of the church's institutions, commandeered bank accounts and foreign exchange and "brought the diocese into contempt". He also was accused of ordering the removal of cathedral memorials to Zimbabweans killed in the first and second World Wars as well as pioneers of former white-ruled Rhodesia and to victims of the 1972-80 independence war.
Ecclesiastical courts have jurisdiction over matters dealing with the rights and obligations of church members, and are usually limited to controversies in areas of church property and ecclesiastical disciplinary proceedings.
If Bishop Kunonga is found guilty, he could be expelled from the church or defrocked.
The case could then be sent before the state courts where the allegations of missing church funds and incitement to murder would be tried. Bishop Kunonga denies all the charges against him.
Acting prosecutor Jeremy Lewis postponed pursuing the most serious incitement to murder charge against Bishop Kunonga after the court ruled the main witnesses against him could not give evidence via closed circuit video phone to support his affidavit.
It was alleged the bishop sought the assistance of Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organisation and militant war veterans to "incite or seek to incite" the murder of 10 prominent Anglicans, including priests and church wardens.
James Mukunga, a former Zimbabwean priest now living in London, allegedly received letters from the bishop in 2003 with instructions to pass them on to the intelligence organisation and war veterans, urging them to "meet" the bishop's critics.
Bishop Kunonga, unlike most senior Zimbabwean churchmen, has refused to criticise Mr Mugabe's human rights abuses and became the first priest to openly take two of Zimbabwe's white-owned farms following the state-sponsored land invasions, which began in 2000.
The landmark case is being heard by Judge James Kalaile, a leading Anglican and justice of Malawi's Supreme Court, and two Zambian bishops.
According to reports, the 55-year-old clergyman arrived at the hearing held at the Royal Harare Golf Club, which is in the shadow of Mr Mugabe's official residence, wearing a jewelled cross over a dark suit and crimson shirt.
Bishop Kunonga has always maintained that his detractors were "racists".
If convicted, he can appeal within the church. The case continues today.