DT Correspondent
In a major legal victory for the Anglican Diocese of Manicaland, Bishop Eric Ruwona and five members of the diocesan standing committee were yesterday acquitted of violating the Education Act by charging a “mission fund” to students enrolled in the diocese’s church-run schools.
The accused individuals, which included standing committee members Walter Majoni, Daphine Mudarikwa, Danisa Muchicwa, and Promise Kunyonga, appeared before Mutare regional magistrate Pethukile Msipa to face allegations that they had illegally required parents and guardians to pay the mission fund before enrolling their children.
However, in her ruling, Msipa determined that the education act does not prohibit the diocese from collecting such a fund, which is used to cover expenses like buying bibles and school uniforms as part of promoting Anglicanism.
The magistrate noted that even the complainants who testified in the case had not actually paid the mission fee.
“The court found out that the body was mandated by the acts and constitution of the church to charge the mission funds,” Msipa said in her judgment.
The diocese was represented by Mutare lawyers Passmore Nyakureba and Ashley Mutungura, who argued that the prosecution was driven by certain “rebels” within the church eager to “de-stabilize the church leadership led by Ruwona.”
With this ruling, the Anglican Diocese of Manicaland has been exonerated of any wrongdoing in its administration of the mission fund requirement at its schools.
The case had threatened to create upheaval within the church, but the court’s decision appears to have settled the matter in the diocese’s favor.
