AFM president Dr Aspher Madziyire says will step down after elections to choose a new leader of his faction. A rival camp led by forme...
AFM president Dr Aspher Madziyire says will step down after
elections to choose a new leader of his faction.
A rival camp led by former vice-president Reverend Cosam
Chiyangwa held its elections last week in Masvingo where Rev Chiyangwa was
elected the leader.
“I am not seeking re-election, I have done my part and
others have to come in and lead the church,” Dr Madiyire told Sunday News. He started
leading the church in 2006.
Pressed to comment on the problems that have rocked the church,
including his purported suspension by the other group, Rev Madziyire said: “I
will write a book about that, so at the moment, I will not talk much. But you
must know that Satan normally fights those who are strong, so if you see some
people being used to fight you, then it means you are a strong believer. Even
in the Bible, you can see that Satan would target the strong ones but we all
know that in the end God wins,” he said.
But one of Madziyire’s trusted lieutenants, Dr Clever Gomba
who is an overseer in Bulawayo said : “In short the fight in AFM is centred on
money and resources. All along AFM pastors used to get money from the branches
they are leading. You would discover a pastor in Borrowdale (Harare) would
collect about $30 000 per month as tithes in addition to appreciation which is
done quarterly. Another pastor who graduated from the same school but posted in
rural areas would get far less, say $90 and this was creating problems.
“So we said let us amend the constitution to allow the
pooling of resources and allow pastors to be paid centrally and that is when
all hell broke loose.
“Those pastors who were benefiting resisted and in short
this is what started all these divisions that are rocking the church now,” he
said.
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