Schism and leadership contestations after the death of Dorius Pedzisai Shoko of Zion Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Succession is the greatest challenge facing most organisations in Africa in all circles of life. Most religious, social and political organisations and institutions seem to face many problems after the death of the founding figure. It seems Africa today has failed to have a smooth transfer of power from the current leader to the successor. Owing to the failures of leaders to appoint their successors particularly in the religious spheres, most church organisations often engage in bloody fights after the death of the principal leader. This makes succession disputes one of the greatest crises facing African Independent churches in Zimbabwe. Daneel (1988) observed that the death of the founder of an independent church, more than any other occasion, brings conflicting issues to the surface. The issue of schism has been and is the result of all struggles that take place in most African Independent churches. The inheritance to the throne in the Zion Apostolic Faith Mission (ZAFM) church has from its inception been a problem. The church has been facing the problem of determining who should succeed the deceased bishop. Disagreements always arise whenever the successor is to be chosen. It is in light of this background that this paper seeks to spell out the schism and leadership contestations that took place after the death of Dorius Pedzisai Shoko the successor of Andreas Shoko of ZAFM. Much of the information for this paper was obtained from field work through focus group discussions, personal observation and face to face interviews with the leaders of ZAFM church.