ZEC break-away church faces contempt charges
Registered trustees of the Zambezi Evangelical Church (ZEC) have instructed their lawyer to file for contempt of court against Zambezi Evangelical Church Chiole Synod headquartered in Ntcheu.
The trustees’ action follows’ failure by the defendants to comply with a recent High Court ruling in Blantyre that ordered Zambezi Evangelical Church Chiole Synod to stop using the name of Zambezi Evangelical Church and return all properties that belong to the church.
Lawyer for the registered trustees of Zambezi Evangelical Church, Victor Jere, said on Friday that the defendants have failed to comply with the court order and he has instructions to file for contempt of court proceedings.
“They have not surrendered the properties and they have continued using the name and logos,” said Jere
The court judgement read in part: “An order of permanent injunction is hereby granted restraining the defendants from using the plaintiffs’ logos, letterhead, or other symbols, women’s cloth, premises (church buildings, schools and health centres), vehicles, computers or any other property that came under the defendants’ control by virtue of their being members of the plaintiff.”
The court ruled that damages for trespass would be assessed.
The court issued the permanent injunction against Zambezi Evangelical Church Chiole Synod and 13 other defendants after registered trustees of Zambezi Evangelical Church sued.
The High Court further directed the Registrar General to amend the name of the Zambezi Evangelical Church Chiole Synod accordingly, as they no longer have the right to use that name.
The court entered a default judgment after the defendants failed to challenge the court action.
It ordered the defendants to immediately deliver possession of the following church premises to the plaintiffs: Balaka, Senzani, Chiole, Dzinjiriza, Dedza, Namitengo, Mtendere, Matanda, Tsangano, Salima, Chipoka, Mvera, Njombwa, Bazale, Bangwe and Kameza.
Other properties to be delivered to the plaintiffs include Chiole and Matanda health centres.
After the default judgement was entered, lawyer for the defendants ZwelithiniChipembere applied to have the order set aside, but the court refused.
The dispute, that started more than five years ago, emerged after a proposal to divide the church into synods.
A break-away team at Chiole in Ntcheu, after the proposal failed, continued using structures of the church, name and logos, and this did not go down well with the registered trustees, who commenced the court action.
Three years ago, one of ZEC’s long-serving ministers Rev HarlexKanthiti severed ties with church and established his own ministry called Hope in Christ Care International Ministries.
