Anglican Church of Tanzania: out goes one Archbishop; in another…

Dar es Salaam. The future for the Anglican Church in Tanzania is still very much bright despite recent internal squabbles that were most challenging, a former archbishop of the Church, Donald Mtetemela, has said.

Speaking during a brief ceremony to swear into office a new archbishop, Jackson Sosthenes, Mtetemela said much of the internal conflict within the church is the doing of people with ill intentions.

However, the church is in place by the will of the Lord God, so no human being will be able to put it down, Archbishop Mtetemela stated

“Conflicts mostly emerge when some people try to force their way to power which they don’t deserve, or want to secure a position for which they are not fitted,” he said.

Noting that “recent conflicts were caused by some corrupt leaders who desired what was not theirs,” Mr Mtetemela said that, “despite the conflicts, our church will stand firm for  long because only God chooses who should lead it, and not otherwise!”

Counseling the new archbishop, Mr Sosthenes, to live what he preaches, Mtetemela said it does not paint a good picture for the highest leader of the church to engage in corruption and other evil doings.

“It pains to see an archbishop who spends his time and energies preaching about God and good things being negatively depicted as a thief, corrupt – or even a womanizer – in mass media organs, including newspapers, the radio and/or TV!”

Recently, the Anglican Church went through harrowing times when its former Dar es Salaam archbishop, Rev. Valentino Mokiwa, was accused of malpractice in the conduct of church affairs.

The ‘Man of the Cloth’ was alleged to have leased three dozen diocesan properties to commercial developers for 40 years without the requisite consent of the diocesan standing committee or synod!

Mokiwa was also accused of pocketing the $2.7 million in proceeds from the leases.

What with one thing leading to another, Archbishop Mokiwa is being replaced by the new Archbishop Sosthenes who is being formally sworn into office today.