Behind this warrant lie years of stories of corruption by the recently retired incumbent Bishop of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Simon Makundi, who has, over the years, been accused of siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars for himself.

These funds were given by foreign donors for projects never built or overly inflated costs resulting in death threats against former TEC missionaries who threatened to expose him. Two Episcopal missionary couples were forced to leave the country, one fleeing and the other having their visas revoked through the influence of the Anglican Bishop.

A former Episcopal priest and TEC missionary to Tanzania, now an ACNA missionary, told VOL this week that after Makundi ordained him, he became the bishop's assistant and, when he looked at the diocesan books, he discovered a huge problem resulting from an almost complete lack of accountability concerning finances.

"In the first three weeks of looking at diocesan accounts I found $150,000 missing given by foreign partners. I could not find where 50,000 Euros given by German Christians for a youth center went. I could not find how money given for our Bible College was ever passed on to them. The whole AIDS ministry had massive questions.

"One of the most disappointing things during our time that has every appearance of raising money from multiple sources for the same classroom building at Pasua Anglican Secondary School. The dedication signs on the building were changed when different donors came to visit. Foreign partners were told that it cost $25,000 USD to build a new church when, in reality, the cost was closer to $8,000. The difference was not accounted for in any way."

Morally, the situation was absolutely intolerable," noted the former Tanzanian missionary. The context of these financial irregularities is particularly egregious considering the fact that evangelists, pastors and families were literally dying of starvation during the drought.

People were going hungry. There was massive famine throughout much of the diocese at that time. Yet funds were directed towards the Bishop with no record of many funds ever reaching those in need. If anyone complained, they would be reassigned to the hinterland with their families where there would be no food, schools or hospitals.

Beyond just being tragic, there are terrible consequences to the kind of environment that exists in the diocese. The prophet Ezekiel wrote:

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. Ezekiel 34:2-3

Following the Matthew 18 Model, numerous people went to the bishop privately to confront him to change his ways. Some prayed with him, and even offered to help repay the missing funds if he would amend his ways. There are countless stories that those who challenged the bishop received death threats including a Molotov cocktail thrown anonymously at a priest's home.

They were also threatened with "the whole family being killed in a car accident." Leaders bravely joined in calling for reform. Reports are common that those who challenged the bishop were quickly black listed. Makundi was a public advocate of keeping TEC money even after then Archbishop Donald Mtetemela said he would not accept money from TEC because it was tainted by immorality and bad theology. Makundi, along with a small minority of other bishops, refused to recognize this embargo.

The American missionary served in the diocese until the bishop worked to get his visa cancelled for raising questions about diocesan finances. The missionary stated, "The present legal debacle seems to stem entirely from Makundi's manipulative attempts to put in his own candidate to replace him. He absolutely doesn't want Stanley Hotay put in place because he is honest and has called for audits of the diocesan accounts. Hotay is the clear choice of the vast majority of diocese."

The people of the diocese want this mess cleaned up, the culture changed, and the work of the Gospel to move forward again. Archbishop Mokiwa inherited the hornet's nest from his predecessor, Archbishop Mtetemela.

On April 15, the Mount Kilimanjaro synod elected the Rev. Stanley Hotay as the third bishop of the diocese that covers the Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara regions. However, a petition was filed in April with the High Court in Arusha asking the court to set aside the election.

The petitioners charged the new bishop had allegedly misstated his age. The court issued an injunction blocking the installation of a new Anglican bishop pending adjudication.

The consecration of Bishop Hotay, however, did not violate the court order, the General Secretary of the ACT told The Citizen newspaper of Dar es Salaam. Dr Dickson Chilongani said the consecration service, which was attended by local police leaders in Arusha and Bishop Tim Stevens of Leicester, was to episcopal office, but did not confer jurisdiction upon the new bishop.

END