CCZ comes out strong on politicians

CCZ President Bishop Dr. Alfred Kalembo

The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has expressed regret on the use of prayer for political ends in the run up to Thursday’s elections.

Reading a pastoral letter on behalf of the heads of the CCZ affiliate churches on the 11^th August general election in Lusaka today, CCZ President Reverend Dr Alfred Kalembo says while the church commends the need for leaders to acknowledge ad turn to God in the face of challenging national issues and to call the nation to turn to God in prayer, the response to such a call should be left to the free will of every citizen.

He says no one should be pressured to attend such prayers because of their status in society, adding that there should be no judgmental public statements as to who has or not attended such prayers.

Reverend Kalembo adds that similarly those calling for prayers should not be condemned based on assumed hidden agenda for such prayers.

He says the CCZ urges Zambians to use the remaining days before elections to seek God’s guidance in prayer so that he will give guidance for people not to be merely influenced by statements that have been made from partisan political stand points.

And Reverend Kalembo has lamented that despite all efforts made by the church and other stakeholders, political violence has persisted with no accepting responsibility except accusations and counter accusations between and among the various party actors.

And Reverend Kalembo has encouraged Zambians to use the remaining time before the elections to spend time to study the arguments advanced by those advocating for the Yes and No votes in the referendum on the bill of rights so that they make an informed decisions.

He says Reverend says people not vote in the referendum because they feel someone is doing them a favor, but that people should feel free to vote according to how they have understood issues.