Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Church calls for serious commitment towards dialogue
The three Church mother bodies have called for serious commitment from all stakeholders in the dialogue process.
In a communiqué on the national dialogue and reconciliation, the three church mother bodies namely Council of Churches in Zambia, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia and Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops have also called on the stakeholders to remain focused and avoid political expediency that may derail the entire process.
They have since resolved to continue the work of preparing a clear road map for a genuine process of dialogue that will be Zambian owned and driven and will be aimed at national reconciliation.
They say they consider reconciliation as their duty given to them by God in exercising their mandate.
The church mother bodies further state that on their part, they are full of hope for a successful process and remain committed to carry out this mandate entrusted to them by the Zambian people, and that with the help of all well-meaning the mighty hand of God, Zambia will be set on a new trajectory that will ensure that the people live in peace, unity and harmony by promoting a culture of true dialogue, good governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
They have also expressed confidence that valuable lessons can be drawn from their historical success in 1991, when the three church mother bodies, brought then President Dr Kenneth Kaunda and then MMD president Fredrick Chiluba to a round table dialogue meeting at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross which resulted into Zambia welcoming the multiparty dispensation in a peaceful manner without bloodshed.
They add that lessons can also be learnt from the recent past in which political leaders failed to abide by what was agreed upon during the inter-party dialogue meeting held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on 29th March,2016,which was organized in order to respond to the many electoral and human rights issues that were troubling the nation.
The three church mother bodies believe that the peace accord brokered in that dialogue meeting should have marked a new beginning, but that leaders across the political divide,failed to abide by the very commitments they made to end political violence,misapplication of the Public Order Act and electoral corruption.
They say it’s because of this failure, that the country is in this state of political division and socio-economic decline.
The Communiqué has been signed by ZCCB President Bishop George Lungu,CCZ president Bishop Alfred Kalenmbo and EFZ president Bishop Paul Mususu.