Church fights against Bishop's widow

The Christian Holy Spirit Church in Moshupa is locked in a dispute with members bitterly fighting the widow of the late church Bishop Frank Rrammutla Batshegi.Allegations reaching The Midweek Sun suggest that since the death of Bishop Batshegi, who was church leader and founder a few years ago, things have never been the same at Christian Holy Spirit. Church members are restless and the church is on the brink of collapse.“They are fighting over power. It appears the Bishop’s widow wanted to be installed as the next Bishop following the death of her husband but some members of the church will not have it.“They argue that according to the church rules, no woman can lead them as Bishop and prefer that a different person be chosen to lead the church instead.“The widow will not have any of that and this is what has caused divisions within the church. They are now fighting with the wife, everything has turned chaotic,” a source said.Further, the widow, who was identified as Mma Pinkie, recently locked the church gates in an effort to stop congregants from worshipping.It is alleged that Mma Pinkie has told church members that the land on which the church sits belongs to her and if she is unwanted, the church should move.When The Midweek Sun team visited her home in Moshupa this week, Mma Pinkie said she was not comfortable discussing the issue with the media.“I cannot really say much about the matter, I can confirm that there are things happening but all I want known is that my name is being tarnished deliberately,” she said.Pinkie Batshegi, Mma Pinkie's daughter, added that although they have a lot to say, they will not do so for fear of bringing the name of the church into disrepute.However, she confirmed that her father, Bishop Batshegi, died in the year 2015 and that is when everything began going south. The family has been dealing with people who are determined to ruin her mother.“I will not say much but just to say, it is not true that my mother locked people out of church. She is the one who has been locked out, she is not going to church, she is not allowed anywhere near it. There are people out there that we know who are peddling these untruths,” Pinkie said.“We do not want to find ourselves in a situation where we are accused of having taken church matters to the media. When the time comes for us to speak, we will do so, for now we are still addressing the issue,” she said.She confirmed that the matter has even reached the village chief Kgosi Oscar Mosielele." I am aware of the matter. We have tried to intervene. To me there are two warring factions battling for leadership. There have been documents taken out and my advice has been that they should stop fighting.“It will not look good to see pastors fighting so I advise all to do things right, if they disagree so much, they can approach the courts so that the matter is settled," Kgosi Mosielele told this publication.

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Church fights against Bishop's widow