Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Three Church mother bodies have warned that Zambia is currently walking on a tinderbox which can ignite any time and leave the country in ashes for ambitious political leaders to preside on.
In a strongly worded joint statement, Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) president Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia board Chairperson Bishop Joe Imakando and Council of Churches in Zambia president Reverend Dr Alfred Kalembo, warn that Political violence has just added fuel to the already poor economic performance of the country.
They have reminded leaders of the PF and UPND that Zambians are very angry because they and their loved ones are hurting badly because they are already under the pressure of adverse economic conditions which is devastating their lives.
They state that it is a shame that the very political leaders who are aspiring to govern the people are the same leaders who are harassing the population and holding them to ransom in so many ways.
The three church mother bodies have noted that with the authorization of party leaders, political party carders have genetically modified themselves into “militias” of aggression, intimidation and retribution to mention but a few illegal activities, adding that democracy is not in their vocabulary.
They state the activities of the carders are spawned by the top political party leadership, nursed by the same leaders and unleashed on the unsuspecting, innocent and hapless citizens or political opponents.
They further state that any political leader who professes ignorance of activities carried out in his party’s name is a shameless liar and is not fit even to aspire for leadership at any level, adding that a leader who cannot reign on his or her cadres cannot govern the country.
They have since appealed to the warring political parties to stop fighting or attacking the hapless citizens and disrupting their livelihoods.
And the church mother bodies say the closure of some private media institutions by government marks a shameful period in the country’s history.
They have since called on the President to take action to reverse what they have described as the ill-advised retrogressive affront on the freedom of expression.