Zimbabwe Victims Sue Church Over Abuse Cover-Up

Seven Zimbabwean survivors have sued the Church of England, alleging a decades-long cover-up that enabled abusive pastor John Smyth to continue harming boys across Africa (image source)

Seven Zimbabwean men have launched legal proceedings against the Church of England, accusing the institution of concealing decades of sexual abuse by Pastor John Smyth during his time in Zimbabwe between 1985 and 2001.

The claim, filed on 04 October in the High Court of Zimbabwe, alleges that senior clergy orchestrated a cover-up that allowed Smyth to continue abusing boys at Christian camps and boarding schools under the guise of moral discipline. According to Sahara Reporters, six of the claimants were abused as teenagers, and one is the sister of a boy who died after a brutal beating.

Leigh Day represents the victims, arguing that the Church of England’s failure to report Smyth’s crimes in the UK in the early 1980s directly led to his relocation—and continued abuses in Southern Africa. “This case is about accountability,” said solicitor Rebekah Read. “Instead of protecting vulnerable children, the Church protected its own reputation.”

Eyewitness accounts detail forced nudity, beatings with table tennis bats, and intrusive conversations about masturbation, said one claimant, Rocky Leanders. Survivors describe how Smyth’s Zambesi Trust UK funded his camps, enabling him to evade scrutiny. The 2024 Makin Review, commissioned by the Church of England, concluded that Smyth was “exported to Africa” after internal inquiries in Cambridge chose not to involve police. In response, Archbishop Justin Welby issued a formal apology, and disciplinary measures were launched under the Clergy Discipline Measure.

John Smyth, a former QC and lay preacher at St Andrew the Great in Cambridge, first abused boys in the UK in the late 1970s. An internal investigation in 1982 acknowledged his criminality but did not notify authorities, allowing Smyth to establish new camps in Zimbabwe and South Africa. He died in 2018 while under investigation by South African police.

The High Court is expected to set hearing dates in December. Claimants seek a full apology, an independent review into abuses in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and financial compensation. Questions remain over what records the Church of England will disclose and whether the Zimbabwean Anglican Church will cooperate with the inquiry.