Two years into his six-year term as chairman of Mozambique’s National Election Commission, Archbishop Carlos Matsinhe, the acting primate of the Anglican Communion’s newest province, is under pressure to retire from his church duties. Matsinhe has led the Anglican Church in Mozambique and Angola (Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola, or IAMA) since its foundation in 2021, and is also Bishop of Lebombo, in southern Mozambique.
The commission has taken heavy criticism since the President Filipe Nyusi’s FRELIMO party was credited with landslide victories across the country in local elections on October 11. Many critics have said there was widespread vote-rigging in the election.
“The results triggered violent protests in major urban centers, which saw four people killed and more than 30 injured,” reporter Cyril Zenda of Zimbabwe wrote for Religion Unplugged. “Dozens were arrested. The new results, released by the Constitutional Council on Nov. 24, revealed that massive rigging had taken place as several opposition RENAMO [Mozambican National Resistance] victories had been transferred to the ruling party.”
Zenda added: “Matsinhe is accused of siding with the ruling FRELIMO party in a country with a delicate political foundation, where the opposition RENAMO party only reentered civilian politics after waging a 15-year civil war. Another armed insurgency by Islamist jihadists is currently raging in the northeast of the country.”
Ten of Matsinhe’s fellow bishops issued a public letter December 9, and asked that it be read in the churches of their dioceses. They also sent copies to Bishop Anthony Poggo, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, and to the two Mozambican bishops who did not join the letter.
In their public letter, the bishops dispute that in a previous letter of October 30 they demanded Matsinhe’s resignation or even asked for his resignation with immediate effect. The bishops said instead that they “advised you to retire with all the benefits,” and they renewed that advice.
The bishops had planned a meeting November 14 solely to discuss the archbishop’s possible retirement, but that meeting was postponed, reportedly after Matsinhe sought to bring an armed guard with him.
“We would like to continue to advise you to consider the position of your peers if we are, of your retirement, to think about the global image of the Church and not about your position,” said the occasionally flowery letter.
“If you do it now, we believe that the Church will give you such great consideration and everyone will say that you have in fact done well because after all and as you stated during the statements that you have no decision-making in relation to the CNE and everyone will believe you and give you a lasting embrace, preserving your good name.”
Matsinhe’s critics include Bishop Dinis Sengulane, who preceded him as Bishop of Lebombo and served in the role for 35 years. Speaking on November 5, Sengulane was blunt.
“Silence can be a lie when you hide what is the truth, because to remain silent is to consent. Your lie can affect many, because you are a person of influence,” he said. “Lying comes from the devil, even if it is dressed in beautiful clothes, opulent clothes, and sometimes even sacred clothes, even clothes like mine, seeming to speak about things of God. But in the end, it only leads you to ruin.”
