**5. Overview of organisational conflict and leadership succession in the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM)**

The findings of this study show that there is a nexus between organisational conflict and leadership succession in the AFM. Of late there has been considerable interest in leadership succession issues in the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) ([3], Nhumburudzi and Kurebwa 2018). To give up-to-date examples of the most typical leadership-related conflict of power experienced in the AFM from 2015 to 2019, I refer to seven articles elicited by the Google search mentioned in the previous paragraph. These eight articles were carried in local newspapers in Zimbabwe:


At the time of this study, the ongoing leadership succession-related conflict of power in the AFM have since spilled into the court of law that is yet to decide on who is the legitimate leader of the AFM as reported by the following contribution on Good Morning Zimbabwe of 17 February 2019 which thus elaborates, "This (leadership succession contestation)… resulted in the two factions electing parallel leaderships with one led by Rev. Madawo and the other siding with Rev. Chiangwa. The legitimacy battle has since spilled into the courts and is yet to be decided" [23].

The above-mentioned conflict of power has also yielded undesirable consequences both for the image of church organisation in general and the well-being of the ordinary church members in particular. The study further stresses that

#### *Conflict of Power and Leadership among Afro-Pentecostal Churches: Resurrecting… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101268*

resurrecting the traditional model of transferring power and managing the appreciations will help the church to address the leadership succession power contestation that has arguably led to the AFM's first wholesale schism since it became an indigenous church in 1983. This schism occurred on the 22nd of September 2018. The AFM split is confirmed by the following report which thus elaborates;

*AFM's total split was yesterday confirmed with the holding of elections by the faction led by Reverend Cossum Chiangwa held at the church's Rufaro Conference Centre in Chatsworth. The faction aligned to Rev. Chiangwa participated in the elections that were held on Saturday putting a stamp to the split with the Reverend Aspher Madziyire grouping [24].*

The history of the traditional model of transferring power in the AFM cannot be fully comprehended without linking it to the history of transferring power in the AFMSA. AFM is an off shoot of AFMSA (Hwata, 2015; [2–6, 10]). Since this research is based on insights that were gained from the field research conducted in pursuance of a doctoral programme [25] part of my PhD, both the AFM gatekeepers and the University of KwaZulu-Natal provided ethical clearance. Ethical approval to conduct the study was obtained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Committee (reference no. HSS/1768/017D).

There is a need to examine the model of transferring power and the management of appreciations in the AFM to know how best to address the current standoff. To do this, examining the history of the leadership succession trend in both the AFMSA and the AFM is critical as it provides the bedrock for addressing the conflict of power rocking the AFM. It seems right from their inception both the AFM and AFMSA followed the model of transferring power at the top level that valued seniority. Nhumburudzi [3] posits that the AFM of South Africa was founded in 1908 by two American Missionaries, who are John Graham Lake and Thomas Hezmalhalch. Nhumburudzi [3] further postulates that, "When the Mission was formalised, Thomas Hezmalhalch was elected the first President of the Apostolic Faith Mission Church on 27th May 1909 while John G. Lake was the Vice President, probably because Hezmalhalch was older than Lake." In support of the traditional model of transferring power alluded to above, Nhumburudzi [3] categorically states that it was the AFM of South Africa deputy president, Lake who succeeded Hezmalhalch as president as narrated below; "By the end of 1910, Thomas Hezmalhalch had returned to the U.S.A after serving a one year term and John G. Lake became the President for three years until 1913 when he also went back to U.S.A."

Coming to the AFM, Nhumburudzi [3] notes that, "The history of the AFM presidential succession has mostly seen the Deputy President succeeding the President. Reverend J. Mvenge was Deputy to the first black AFM in Zimbabwe leader, Reverend Langton Kupara and succeeded him after his death. Reverend Mvenge was also succeeded by his deputy Reverend Stephen Mutemererwa." Rev. Mutemererwa was also succeeded by his deputy Manyika and up to the time of this study it is only Rev. Manyika and Rev. Madziyire who have not been succeeded by their deputies and somehow the above shows a violation of the institutionalised leadership succession trend. Similarly, Ndlovu ([2], p. 120) reinforces that;

*After his departure, his then Deputy Superintendent, Rev. Jeffries Mvenge was appointed the next A.F.M.Z. According to Madziyire and Risinamhodzi (2016, p. 93) Mvenge retired in 1996 and his Deputy President Rev. Stephen Mutemererwa was elected the President." Ndlovu ([2], p. 121) adds that, Reverend Enos Manyika was Stephen Mutemererwa's Deputy President and was elected his successor in the year 2000 after Mutemererwa's retirement.*

Related to the foregoing, Murefu [26] posits that, "The correct position is that the previous presidents were actually elected from among the then executive council members by the executive council itself and mandated by the workers' council. We then went for an electoral college with equal representatives from the provinces to elect Rev. Enos Manyika then Rev. Madziyire respectively." Murefu further clarifies that, "the term executive was used before it became apostolic council. There were only 6 provinces then, then the bible college principal and other heads of departments" [26]. So from the time, the AFM in Zimbabwe became an indigenous church in 1983 ([3], p. 34) and during the successive years up to the time of the immediate past president, the church followed a traditional model of transferring power at the top level which saw the outgoing presidents always being succeeded by his deputy president up to the time of Manyika. This model of transferring power enabled older, senior, experienced and mature leaders to assume leadership at the top level. In support of the traditional model of transferring power, C. Reus-Smit [27] reinforces that, "In a nutshell, the concept of binding institutions suggests a constitutional order that helps to lock-in a set of rules that will outlast change in the distribution of power. In the same vein, E. Frantz and E.A. Stein [28] posit that, "institutionalised succession rules hamper coordination efforts among coup plotters… by assuaging the ambition of some elites who have more to gain with patience than with plotting."

My analysis revealed that it is mainly the changing of the traditional model of transferring power which valued seniority which has triggered a widespread conflict of power in the AFM. This is an analysis of the fourth chapter of my doctoral thesis on the dynamics of power and its implications on leadership succession, governance and peacebuilding in the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM).

Both the print and electronic media are rife with stories relating to conflict of power that is becoming evident in the AFM. Consequently, for the past couple of years, AFM has been characterised by innuendos that suggest the prevalence of conflict of power which have since spilled into the secular courts [2, 3, 8]. In support of the above standpoint, Nhumburudzi [3] echoes identical sentiments when he contends that, the immediate past president's "Administration has suffered the most break-aways ever experienced in the history of the AFM church."

Although, conflict of power is common within organisations including Christian organisations, it is a cause for great concern that the conflict of power that the church has been experiencing over the past couple of years has finally resulted in the church's worst split ever since it became an indigenous church. The conflict of power that is becoming evident in the AFM is linked to appreciations. Historically, from the time that AFM started in Zimbabwe until 2003, leadership succession in the AFM followed a trend that saw the deputy president succeeding the outgoing president. This ensured smooth transfer of power as leadership easily changed hands from one senior pastor onto another senior pastor. However, both in 2003 and 2018, relatively young presidents took over the leadership of the gigantic Pentecostal movement and this has sparked conflict of power in the church. The church has since split into two major factions, the Madawo and the Chiangwa factions. Chiangwa is a relatively old senior pastor who is also a former long-time provincial overseer and deputy president of the AFM while Madawo is a relatively young pastor who is a former longtime provincial overseer and general-secretary of the AFM. During the in-depth interviews, the informants reported that the traditional model of transferring power valued seniority. Even though the Constitution and Regulations outline how the president is elected from among the overseers who have served for at least two terms [3], all the respondents who were interviewed in this study strongly believed that revisiting the traditional model of transferring power that valued seniority leadership appointment at the top level and managing appreciations are the panacea to the leadership difficulties being experienced in the church.

*Conflict of Power and Leadership among Afro-Pentecostal Churches: Resurrecting… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101268*
