Tanzania: Growing Concern As Lutheran Church At Daggers Drawn

By Adonis Byemelwa

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania had re-elected (Bishop) Dr. Alex Malasusa as the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), succeeding Bishop (Dr.) Fredrick Shoo, who has completed his leadership tenure, with critics questioning the legality of a bishop who had held a similar position to re-emerge among nominees.

However, the former ELCT Secretary General, Amani Mwenegoha, came in soup for supporting the move, with critics grilling him for not providing enabling provisions under the current ELCT Constitution to buttress his argument. The provision of Article 21 of the ELCT Constitution (Revised in 2015) does not give leeway for retired bishops to be elected as presiding bishop of the ELCT.

One of the qualifications, among others to be elected as a presiding bishop of the ELCT, a potential candidate bishop must be holding the position of a bishop in his Diocese; this means, they must be before the retirement age of 65 years old.

Bishop Malasusa, who leads the Eastern and Coastal Diocese of ELCT, once held the position from 2007 to 2015 and then passed on the responsibilities to Bishop Shoo. His re-election has sparked discussions on social media platforms, with analysts commenting that the bishop-elect enjoys the government's backing.

In March 2018, ELCT Bishops unanimously signed a circular opposing President Magufuli’s despotic leadership, igniting pressure to write a new constitution, but in what most people called a kind of betrayal, Malasusa opted not to read the document in his area of jurisdiction.

The Karagwe Bishop Dr. Benson Bagonza was up in arms against Malasusa for his failure to read the documents blessed by all ELCT bishops, sending jibes in social media that the latter had deceived fellow ELCT members.

Bishop Bagonza has all the way been feared for his stance against the despotic government and the ruling CCM. The cleric-cum-opposition cadre had been openly declaring his interest in supporting Tanzania’s leading opposition, party Chadema, a stance which poses shockwaves to both the government and the entire ELCT general community, whose leader seems to be in the shoes of government dealings.

In what might be termed as long-standing vendetta, the August election saw two bishops, Dr. Benson Bagonza and bishop Ambele Mwaipopo of the Lake Tanganyika Diocese, barred to attend the ELCT general assembly meeting that nominated Malasusa with least votes and two others ahead of him with leading votes.

Bishop Bagonza and Ambele Mwaipopo were questionably suspended from attending four ELCT Regular Governing Council sessions in March of last year due to disagreements with Bishop Shoo over how to address the conflict within the (ELCT) Konde Diocese.

The very decision made to suspend them from attending four regular Governing Council sessions has been challenged by some critics; if it was mandated by the ELCT Constitution which has neither disciplinary measures proviso nor conflict resolution instrument for Governing Council’s members or bishops representing their dioceses.

A room of unresolved legal discussion remains that each individual diocese is autonomous with constitutional powers in addressing all disciplinary matters and solving their internal challenges without having the ELCT headquarters to intervene, unless, invited for further determination to chip in.

On a lighter note, during the executive committee meeting held before the election, bishops Bagonza and Mwaipopo were humbly pardoned but seemingly without resolving their conflict as their disagreement with bishop Fredrick Shoo has been taken by the circumstances on the condition of writing apology letters, a requirement they fulfilled within a short time.

Information privy to bishops who attended the general assembly says bishop Shoo stood his ground and maintained that the bishops were suspended from attending four regular sessions.

The Konde Diocese conflicts created more divisions among congregants in the Mbeya Region, following the decision by the then presiding Bishop Dr. Edward Mwaikali to shift the headquarters of the diocese from Tukuyu District to Mbeya City, a choice which forced Bishop Shoo to intervene the battle by presiding over the election, which gave Bishop Geoffrey Mwakihaba the power to man the diocese in question, forcing Dr. Mwaikali to step down.

Bishop Mwaikali criticized his boss for instigating the skirmish, in which he said the ELCT bishop lacked the powers and authorities to push for his ouster through illegal elections.

Bishop. Mwaikali’s claims bear an iota of truth, which is why Bishop Bagonza was quoted in social media as saying, that each diocese among the 27 ones countrywide is autonomous in solving their challenges without having the ELCT headquarters presiding bishop to intervene, expounding that the bishop Shoo was devoid of constitutional powers to intervene internal affairs of an individual diocese.

Bishop Bagonza’s statements were supported by both bishop Mwaipopo and the then Northern Eastern Diocese bishop Stephen Munga, a reason that had now forced a need for a new ELCT Constitution referendum that now gives powers to ELCT presiding bishop to give circulars and directives to all ELCT bishops (to micromanage entire ELCT dioceses management) by virtually paralyzing the powers accrued from constitutions of an individual diocese.

The 25^th August election’s candidate nomination had bishop Abednego Keshomshahara leading with 32 votes followed by Bishop George Fihavango with 20 votes, Malasusa garnered 16 votes, and both Bishops Benson Bagonza and Andrew Gulle got 15 votes each.

With those results, the names of bishop Malasusa, bishop Keshomshahara, and bishop Fihavango had to be voted on for the first time by the members of the ELCT general assembly but none emerged with the required majority votes as per the constitutional prerequisite.

The election had to be repeated thrice as the required votes were unmet. In the first round of voting out of 253 votes cast, bishop Keshomshahara won 83 votes, bishop Fihavango garnered 69 votes and Malasusa bagged 90 votes while 11 votes were spoiled.

According to the ELCT constitution, a two-thirds majority was not achieved to determine a winner, prompting a second round of voting between the top two candidates, Bishop Malasusa and Bishop Keshomshahara.

However, in the second round, the two-thirds majority was still not achieved, as Dr. Malasusa won 142 votes and Keshomshahara garnered 96 votes out of the 239 votes cast. Consequently, a third round of voting was announced.

In the third round of voting, Bishop Malasusa got 167 votes equivalent to 69.3 percent of the 241 votes cast, while Keshomshahara collected 73 votes, equivalent to 30.3 percent. Thus, Bishop Malasusa was declared the newly elected head of the church based on simple majority votes as per the constitutional condition.

The showers of congratulations on Dr. Malasusa from across the country had propelled mixed feelings from his opponent, bishop Bagonza, who had said the elections were not free as he twitted on social media that: “We simply went for election to be condemned instead of vying for positions on a level playing field.”

The jibes issued on social media by Bishop Bagonza should not be taken lightly by members of the public because he has congregants from his diocese who are also supposed to heed directives given by the ELCT headquarters.  The discontentment of bishops after the election may bring in more divisions among ELCT congregants than cementing the ever-enjoyed social fabric. Religious leaders should sit down and resolve the anomalies featured in the amended constitution.

If bishop Mwaikali was proven wrong in the manner, he handled the Konde Diocese conflicts, bishop Shoo could not resort to punishing whoever sided with him (Mwaikali) but would instead rely on forgiveness to maintain the social fabric.

The ELCT Governing Council headquarters could have either addressed substantial conflicting matters or maintained Christian brotherhood, instead of bishop Shoo resorting to punishing whoever sided with him /verging into unnecessary personal war with whoever sided with Bishop Mwaikali on substantial merit at the general ELCT community cost that taints the very church image.

Remaining on the stance that the letters of apology regarding the Konde Diocese conflict from bishop Bagonza and bishop Mwaipopo did not reach the outgoing ELCT leader, bishop Shoo’s office, warranting a dismissal of the embattled from the general assembly does not augur well with congregants, who, accuse the cleric of enflaming hatred.

But if sanctity was anything to go by, neither the winner nor the opponents had a clean bill of rights in a manner their diocese is overseen. While bishop. Fihavango saw The Lutheran Junior Seminary dying in his hands, Malasusa was also accused of soiling the East and Coastal Diocese by being in questionable affairs with pastor Leita Ngoyi, the scandal which led to breaking the pastor’s marriage with her husband, Venance Mwakilima.

Before this incident, bishop Malasusa was initially blamed for being confirmed in his second term bishopric office contrary to the ELCT Eastern and Coastal Diocese constitution on secret ballot voting regulations.

Bishop Keshomshahara is also criticized for being non-committal, letting the North Western Diocese’s resources collapse under his watch. The collapse of Kashasha Vocational Training College, the ELCT Garage, and his failure to revive the Josiah Kabira University College, pose more questions than answers about his ability to preside over 27 dioceses should he be elected.

What could be seen as a monster devouring its children, the proposed ELCT constitution referendum may bring in new conflicts among congregants, who say changes should be channeled through scratch, accusing leaders of embracing the top-down structure mode of decentralization as opposed to old centralization supremacy structure.

The proposed ELCT constitution referendum if passed by the next ELCT General Assembly will give powers to the new ELCT leader, Malasusa to discipline bishops and other senior diocesan officers who will go against procedures, the move must come hot in hells of critical minds of the bishop Bagonza and possibly many other clerics and non-clerics who believe in freedom of speech.

Should the proposed ELCT constitution referendum get implemented, pastors who had turned the Lutheran church into the Pentecostal mode of worship will also face challenges, especially the Kimara Lutheran Parish (ECD) where sizeable fingers had been pointed at its pastor, Wilbroad Mastai, for ignoring the liturgy at the expense of prayers against demons akin to how Pentecostal clerics do. If the murky scenario keeps embroiling the church, divisions will place congregants in limbo. Bishop Malasusa is poised to clear the air by exuding prowess in church politics, but how will this succeed when his victory is questioned leaves a million-dollar question. Posterity will tell.