Anglicans in Zimbabwe's Diocese of Harare are scheduled to hold a prayer meeting on Sunday, Jan. 31, in protest of the ongoing persecution by local police that has prevented them from worshipping freely in their own church buildings, the independent Zimbabwe news agency ZimOnline has reported.

Zimbabwe's Anglicans have faced ongoing harassment and violence from President Robert Mugabe's police force since renegade bishop Nolbert Kunonga was officially excommunicated by the Church of the Province of Central Africa in May 2008.

An avid Mugabe supporter, Kunonga still claims ownership of the diocese's Anglican churches and has supported the intimidation and persecution of Anglicans in Zimbabwe for opposing his and Mugabe's leadership.

ZimOnline noted that the prayer meeting comes "after months of a tense and sometimes violent struggle for control of the church" between Kunonga and Bishop Chad Gandiya, elected in 2009 to run the Harare diocese.

Gandiya succeeded Bishop Sebastian Bakare, who served as the diocese's interim bishop since December 2007, when Kunonga was deposed after illegally separating from the Central Africa province and installing himself as archbishop of Zimbabwe.

Despite a High Court order instructing Gandiya and Kunonga to share use of church buildings, "Kunonga's group is accused of locking up church doors every Sunday to prevent their rivals from entering the buildings to hold prayers, while the police have been on hand to chase away Gandiya's followers every time they tried to insist on their right to use the churches," the ZimOnline agency reported.

Zimbabwe has experienced an economic and socio-political crisis under the leadership of Mugabe, whose ZANU-PF party continues to hold onto power despite being defeated by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition Movement for Democratic Change in the March 2008 elections.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe formed a power-sharing government in February 2009 but tensions between the two leaders have since caused the agreement to falter.

Mugabe has been invited to attend the Jan. 31 prayer meeting, which will be held at Africa Unity Square in central Harare.

ZimOnline reported that the Harare city council has granted permission for the prayer meeting to go ahead, but that the police "are yet to respond to the church's request."

-- Matthew Davies is editor and international correspondent of Episcopal News Service.