Estranged bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire Brighton Malasa has refuted reports that the church has finally offered him a $1 million (about K1 billion) retirement package.

In an interview yesterday, the Bishop said he will only resign when the church pays him his retirement package.

Said Malasa: “Reports that the church has offered me K1 billion are not true. When they are ready and have put the money on table, I will take it and happily go home.

Malasa: There is no retirement payout

“This is a calling from God so when God says it is time to go, I will go. As I stand, there is nothing that has changed. I did not resign and will not do that.”

In February this year, the church’s Board of Finance made the calculations as per requirement in Canon 13 following the six-month ultimatum that Malasa was given to resign. The ultimatum elapsed in June.

According to Canon 13, if he was to resign, the diocese will have to pay his benefits package, which must include building him a house of the same standard as the bishop’s house at the diocese.

The church must also pay him his salary for 19 years wholesome and provide him a vehicle, security, medical, cooks and messengers up to his retirement age of 65.

In a pastoral letter read in all Anglican churches in the country in February, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa, Albert Chama, said if Malasa refused to resign on his own, the bishops would to vote for his forced resignation.

In a separate interview, the church’s finance committee member, the Reverend Canon Polycarp Masitala, confirmed that the church is yet to prepare the retirement package for Malasa.

He said: “There are two camps in the church, those against Malasa and those in support of him. As it stands, the camp supporting Malasa will not contribute towards the retirement package because it found no fault in the Bishop.

“It is the other camp against Malasa which ought to contribute.”

The wrangle between Malasa and some church members dates back to 2017.

In January 2019, over 200 members from 35 out of 41 churches of the Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire sealed Malasa’s offices in Zomba, demanding his immediate resignation.

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