4. Introduction
5.1 Initial discussions: putting the issue on the agenda
Chapter Five
The Iringa diocese (1987-1999) 5. Introduction
The -aim of this chapter is to examine the establishment of the Iringa diocese. There are different ways of looking at this development. Due to the growth in the population of Tanzania as well as the number of the Evangelical Lutheran Christians, the increase in dioceses, which resulted through division, can be seen as part of an organic process.
But it cannot be ignored that ethnic tensions, mother languages and traditions all played an important role in the division and reorganization of the dioceses. This was no different in the case of the Iringa diocese, one of the districts of the Southern diocese that was mainly dominated by the Bena tribe. I will discuss the factors which led to the beginning of the diocese, the claim to apostolic succession, the election procedure of its leaders and how it prepared its people for leadership. I will also discuss women's ordination, the Umoja wa Wanawake (Women's Union) and the youth movement and their contribution to mission work.
in 1951 and Isimani in 1966 respectively.324 The growth of the parishes in the district can be attributed to the crucial role played by the indigenous pastors and walimu (teachers) who led the first four parishes and the congregations. In 1976 the Uhehe district was divided into two districts, Iringa and Mufindi. The name Uhehe was changed to Iringa district in 1977.325 During that period the number of parishes had grown to eleven. The new parishes were Ipalamwa, Tungamalenga, Ihimbo and Kihesa. The district headquarters were moved from Pommern to Iringa town because Iringa town was regarded as the central place for the whole district was equipped with good infrastructure and was the government headquarters in the region.
According to Obadia Kasumba, former General Secretary of the Southern Diocese, Bishop Juda Kiwovele of the Southern diocese mentioned for the first time the idea of the Iringa district becoming a diocese at the Executive meeting of the diocese in September 1982 in Njombe. Bishop Kiwovele shared his vision with Rev. Durst of the Bavaria Mission Society, who was also a member of the Lutheran Coordination Service (LMC). He said. "There will be a diocese of Matamba and a diocese of Iringa and all stations which were started by the Berlin Mission Society will be upgraded to become districts.
These are Kidugala, I1embula, Lupembe, Emaberg-Makambako and Yakobi. ,,326 The officers of the diocese were surprised to receive this information for the first time but there was no further discussion on the matter. Although it sounded like a prophetic voice, in the eyes of
324KKKT Oayosisi ya Iringa, Miaka 100 ya Injili Uheheni 1899-1999 (Oar es Salaam:
Inter Press of Tanzania Ltd. 1999), p. 9.
325The Germans gave Iringa the name after defeating the Hehe at Kalenga fort. The Hehe people called the place Lilinga, which meant fortress and the Germans changed it to Iringa. The change from Uhehe to Iringa has some historical significance and an indicator of colonial hegemony.
326 Oayosisi ya Kusini Magharibi, Injili Uwanji 1900-2000 (Oar es Salaam: National Printing Company Limited, 2000), p. 32.
his colleagues it was undemocratic. Bishop J. B. Kiwovele studied for his doctorate at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, before he became the bishop of the Southern diocese. Kiwovele had a plan in his mind. Only three Bishops in the ELCT meetings as compared to eight bishops from the northern part were representing the whole Southern region of the country. After sensing this inequality, Kiwovele came up with a plan to open new dioceses in his area in order to have a balanced delegation and hence fighting against northern dominance in the ELCT. 327
On 2 February 1983, the Executive Committee of the diocese met.
After all the agenda had been discussed and deliberations made, the Bishop tabled an extra item without the knowledge of his fellow officers. The item was about the Matamba and the Iringa districts.
"The Matamba district is to become a diocese from now on for the good of the life and development of the remaining Southern diocese.
Also the Iringa district is to become a diocese in order to protect the life and development of the remaining diocese.,,328 The statement provoked the delegates of the two districts in question, which resulted, in a serious and hot discussion. Members were not happy with the way the item was presented.
The idea behind the bishop of the diocese was to get rid of the two officials, his Assistant Bishop and the General Secretary. In order to get rid of them, he had to introduce the idea of forming new dioceses, which would make the two officials leave and go to their home district, Matamba. First of all, delegates from the Matamba district and Iringa got the impression that the mother diocese (the Southern diocese) did not want them to be part of the diocese. The words used in presenting
327 Interview with Pastor Israel Kiponda, 12 January 2000, Iringa.
328 Dayosisi ya Kusini Magharibi, Injili Uwanji 1900-2000, p. 33.
the item were interpreted to mean that the two districts were a hindrance to the development and life of the Southern diocese. One can even go further and interpret that the item aimed at throwing out the two executive officials who were natives of Matamba district. The Bishop of the diocese came from the Njombe area, a district dominated by the Bena tribe, while the Assistant Bishop and the General Secretary came from the Matamba district dominated by the Wanji tribe. The two officers from Matamba were seen to be a threat to the leadership of the diocese and to the Bena people in general. The formation of the new diocese was not the real issue but the aim was to make sure that the Bena people took leadership positions in the diocese. For the Bishop and those behind him the only way to remove them from the office was to make Matamba become an independent diocese. After a long discussion, the agenda was accepted and was forwarded to the Executive Council for further discussion.329
The Executive Council of the Southern diocese met from 24 to 26 November 1983 in Njombe and discussed the issue of Matamba and Iringa districts becoming dioceses. After a lengthy discussion, where the delegates expressed different views, the delegates were asked to vote in order to arrive at a conclusion. While the Matamba district was accepted to become a diocese by 25 votes, four votes were against and nine votes were neutral. The delegates voted against the Iringa district becoming a diocese.33o The Executive Council voted against Iringa because of economic reasons. At that time, the Iringa district was strong economically in comparison with the rest of the districts in the Southern diocese. By allOWing the Iringa district to break away from the diocese, the delegates realised that the economy and strength of the Southern diocese would be weakened.
329Ibid.
330Ibid.
Although the Iringa district was voted against by the Executive Council, the leadership and delegates from the Iringa district left the meeting unsatisfied and with differing views. Firstly, since the item had originated from the top leadership of the diocese, some of the Iringa delegates felt that the leadership of the diocese disliked them and was not interested in the Iringa district being part of the diocese. Secondly, some of the people from the Ubena area, who dominated the Iringa district because several Bena pastors and evangelists had been posted into the parishes in the district, opposed the idea secretly while others openly opposed it. They wanted to continue to assert their Bena influence in Iringa. 331
Having not been satisfied with the decision of the Executive Council, the Iringa district under the leadership of Pastor Nicholas Mwachusi, sent an item to the Executive Council of the diocese officially and proposed that it was time for the Iringa district to become a diocese. A letter dated 26 March 1984 accompanied the item. The Iringa district central committee had discussed the item in two different meetings, at Masisiwe and then at Lulanzi. The first meeting was held at Masisiwe on 29 to 30 September1983 and gave the delegates the opportunity to discuss the agenda in depth. The members of the district executive committee were briefed that the idea was first brought forward at the Executive Committee of the Southern diocese on 2 February 1983 in Njombe. Agenda KUj8j83 stated, "Iringa district should be a diocese in order to protect the life and development of the remaining diocese".332 The delegates reached consensus that the time was ripe and appropriate for the Iringa district to be an independent diocese.
Nevertheless, it was important to follow the necessary steps of
331Interview with Oswald Ndelwa, 22 July 2001, Iringa.
332Interview with Oswald Ndelwa, 22 July 2001, Iringa.
becoming a diocese, instead of declaring a diocese by force. Hence the agenda was sent back to the Executive Committee that was scheduled to take place on 29 to 30 March 1984, requesting that the Iringa district should like to become a diocese.333 Furthermore, the district leadership never reported the matter of being chased from the mother diocese to the ELCT headquarters. It was counted as an internal problem and it was, therefore, deemed appropriate to handle it internally.
The decision of the District Executive Committee had to be tabled before the district meeting of Iringa, which was held on 21 to 22 March 1984 at Ihemi parish. The members gave blessings on the decisions and the item was resubmitted at the 11 Southern diocese synod meeting, which was held at Chimala in November 1985. After a very hot discussion, there was no consensus but the delegates at the synod meeting were asked to vote. The delegates at the synod meeting voted for the proposal brought forward by the Executive Council that - the Iringa district should become a diotese by a total of 223 votes out of 241 votes. One vote was against, five votes were disqualified and twelve voters did not vote for one reason or another. After the results of the votes, all the delegates from the Iringa district, under the leadership of their district pastor, Nicholas Mwachusi, went out and celebrated by dancing the Hehe traditional dance the whole night.334
The decision of the synod meeting to allow the Iringa district to become a diocese was a great Victory for the delegates and Christians of Iringa, because they were not only going to be free from the domination of the Bena Christians but they were now also open to leadership opportunities and the chance to develop their district
333Interview with Oswald Ndelwa, 22 July 2001, Iringa.
334Interview with Elia Mbangwa, 12 January 2001, Kidewa, Iringa.
economically and spiritually. The distribution of development projects had not been even distributed within the diocese. The Njombe area of the Bena had more church schools, hospitals and church institutions than the Matamba and Iringa districts. This inequality in services created resentment among the leaders in the church.
According to the ELCT constitution, any geographical area within the ELCT which wanted to become a diocese, had to be given a blessing by the Synod meeting of the ELCT. Since the issue of the Iringa district becoming a diocese had been discussed from the district level up to the diocesan level, the ELCT executive meeting in 1986 accepted the proposal without any problem. It was later presented before the 7 ELCT Synod of 1986, which took place in Korogwe. The Iringa District of the Southern diocese was officially accepted by the ELCT to become an independent diocese in that meeting.335
Although the steps were followed one after the other for the Iringa District to legitimately become a diocese, the Iringa district had already chosen an interim leadership from 1 January 1986. The decision of the ELCT Synod assembly allowed the district to become a diocese as from 1 January 1987.336 This period gave the Iringa diocese in the making ample time to get prepared for the inauguration of the diocese and for the election of the leaders of the new diocese.
After the Synod Assembly of the Southern diocese held at Chimala, a committee for the Iringa diocese in the making met on 15 November 1985 to discuss the resolution of the Synod assembly. It was decided that a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Iringa district be
335 Oayosisi ya Iringa, Miaka 100 ya Injili Uheheni 1899-1999 (Iringa diocese, 100 Years of the Gospel in Uhehe) (Oar es Salaam: Inter Press of Tanzania Ltd. 1999), p.
4.
336Ibid.
convened on 25 November 1985.337 It was also decided that a District Executive meeting be called on 5 December 1985 at the Iringa Lutheran Center. All the parishes were asked to contribute a sum of 800 Tanzanian shillings to meet the costs of the meeting. The delegation included four members from each parish, which comprised of the pastor, the treasurer and two other members. The delegates of the Executive Council had the task of electing the interim leadership of the Iringa diocese in the making, dividing the area into districts, and proposing members of the Executive Council and its various committees and departments in the new diocese.338
The outcome of the Iringa District Executive meeting of 5 December 1985 was the implementation of the directives discussed above. The Iringa district was now to be called the Iringa diocese in the making as from 1 January 1986 and was composed of five districts. The Idete district was composed of four parishes: Idete, Kimala, Ipalamwa and Masisiwe. The Pommern district was composed of five parishes:
Pommern, Kidabaga, Ugesa, Bomalang'ombe, and Ihimbo. The I1ula district was composed of five parishes: I1ula, Image, Isimani, I1ambilole and Mbuyuni. The Ihemi district was composed of three parishes: Ihemi, Tungamalenga and Kidamali. Finally, the Iringa district was composed of three parishes: Iringa, Kihesa and Mlandege.339
In the same sitting the Executive Council appointed district pastors to lead the new districts: Ernest Mwaluvinga for Idete, Samson Mkemwa for Pommern, Aron Mbena for I1ula, Owdenburg Mdegella for Ihemi, and Japhet Mbwanji for Iringa. Pastor Nicholas Mwachusi, who was the
337 Letter from Nicholas Mwachusi (who was the District Pastor of Iringa District to all Pastors and leaders of the parishes in Iringa district, dated 18/11/985, Archive of Iringa Diocese, Mkuu wa Jimbo File No. 1.
338 Ibid.
district pastor of the Uhehe district, was chosen to be the Head of the Iringa diocese in the making. Pastor Owdenburg Mdegella, who was a pastor at Ihemi, was elected the assistant to the head of Iringa diocese in the making, besides being the head of the Ihemi district.
Tuluwene Kulanga and Gerson Munyi held the positions of General Secretary and Treasurer respectively, while Esther Chusi was appointed to lead the Women's department and Rhoden Mang'ulisa led the Youth and Children's department. In order to incorporate the laity in the leadership of the new diocese the meeting appointed two Christians from each district to be members of the Executive Council of the Iringa diocese in the making. It was decided, however, that this leadership was to hold office for only one year while waiting for the blessing of the ELCT Synod Assembly, which was to take place in June 1986.340
The ELCT Executive Council meeting among other things received a proposal that Iringa district of the Southern diocese as an independent diocese was being proposed to the 12 ELCT Synod Assembly held at Korogwe from 24 to 26 March 1986. The proposal was put before the ELCT Synod Assembly after the future the Iringa diocese had fulfilled all the requirements needed for a district to be given the status of a diocese. It was required to have enough membership (parishioners), adequate income sources besides the collections from its members, enough indigenous pastors and evangelists, and potential areas for mission work and evangelism and to be a reasonable distance from the headquarters of the mother diocese.341
The Iringa diocese in the making had the advantage of surpassing the requirements set by the ELCT headquarters and this was indicative of
339 District Pastor File No. 1 Letter Ref. No. MJ/UH/102 dated 14/12/1985, Iringa.
340Ibid.
341Ibid.
the need to have its own diocese in order to deliver spiritual, social and economic services more effectively. It was decided to make Iringa town the Iringa diocese headquarters, which was also the regional headquarters. It was strategically positioned because there was a variety of people there who, in one way or the other, would promote the development of the church. The ELCT Synod Assembly accepted the proposal and the Iringa diocese was instructed to present its constitution to the ELCT Constitution Committee for approval, before it officially took off. The constitution for the Iringa diocese was scrutinised and corrected from 24 to 26 March 1987.342 All constitutions of the respective dioceses of the ELCT need to reflect the ELCT Constitution, which governs all the ELCT units in the church. This has the advantage of fostering unity in the church.