Johannesburg - A “homophobic” bishop from an international church with roughly three million members has been ditched from the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church as the furore surrounding the controversial clergyman rages.

The Star reported on Friday that Bishop Paul Mulenga Kawimbe - who heads the more than 40000-member strong 19th district of the AME - was accused by Reverend Teboho Klaas in court papers of waging a concerted battle to get rid of him as a pastor due to Klaas’s public support for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex community.

Klaas has hauled the AME and Kawimbe before the South Gauteng High Court over unfair dismissal as the head of AME’s Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, branch, with Klaas alleging that his removal was because the bishop was homophobic.

It has now emerged that Kawimbe was officially removed on Thursday “for the good of the church” by AME’s judicial council - the church’s US-based highest judicial body.

Among others, allegations against Kawimbe - who held the post since 2012 - were that the 19th district was riven with problems, including the alleged looting of the Sanlam provident fund, and that the bishop flouted AME processes by axing pastors without following the church’s procedures. Read more via IOL