"Their complaint is that the Electoral Assembly twisted the formalities of the elections to suit the bishop-elect. The members are challenging the whole elections process," said Kafumba, who could not be drawn to comment in detail on the grounds of the objection for fear of pre-empting the case.

One member of the concerned group, who pleaded for anonymity, said the flaws in the election process included the way nominations were handled and that some priests acted in a way that promoted Henderson at the expense of other able candidates. The members questioned the procedure used to short-list three clergy, namely Henderson, Henry Hastings Mbaya and Kelvin Hinks out of 19 candidates.

The members have in the affidavits sent to the Archbishop of Central Africa Bernard Malango and the Provincial Registrar C. C. Seldon, through Kafumba asked the Court to nullify the July 29 polls and called on the Episcopal Synod, a body comprising of all Provincial Bishops, to come up with a new nomination.

On Henderson, the members said: "He is a man who has only been known to most people in the Diocese after the death of Bishop Peter Nyanja because some priests went on a deliberate campaign to portray him as someone who has been assisting the diocese."

He accused the electors of putting too much emphasis on the monetary advantage of electing a foreigner as opposed to how he would assist to bring in more people into the Church.

"Members of the Church have been told that this man assisted the Diocese during the 2001 hunger with about K13 million to buy food and he also contributes £8,000 every year towards the Lake Malawi Diocese Fund. However, this is the information which is only coming out now while all along people did not know about it," said the member. The member said their other concern was that the bishop-elect was not conversant with Malawian culture because he has never worked in the country. He said there was fear he would not understand their problems and also bring "strange culture and traditions" to the Diocese.

Malango who presides over the Provincial Court said he has not yet received the objection, but said according to the Canon laws, there was nothing wrong with people raising queries as long as they were Canonical objections. He said after an election of the Bishop members were given 28 days to raise any such queries.

"But no one can query the procedures which were followed because I am the guide and the one who is very familiar with the Canon. I am the custodian of those procedures as laid down in the Canon of this Province," said Malango.

According to Chapter 7 of the Constitution and Canon of the Central Africa Province valid objection to the election of a bishop might be made on the grounds that the election were informal, or the person elected is not of Canonical age, competent learning and sound faith.

The Church laws do not give a complainant a chance to appeal or go to a secular court after the Church Court's ruling.

"No person shall be competent to object unless he be a Communicant of the Church, of honest life and good repute, and present to the Court sufficient certificates to that effect; and further that he subscribe a declaration that he will accept the decision of the Court as final," reads section 5 of Canon 7.

In 2002, church members also sought an injunction on the ordination of Malango as Bishop of Upper Shire Diocese alleging he was not a suitable candidate for the position because he allegedly did not handle monetary matters of the church well while serving as a Bishop in Zambia.

http://www.nationmalawi.com/articles.asp?articleID=12044

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