The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) expressed dismay at the hostility exhibited by the Republican President Michael Sata towards Rev Bishop George Lungu, Catholic Bishop, for allowing prayers for the release of the constitution to be conducted in his diocese.
In a statement released to the media, CCZ said that the attacks were unwarranted, misdirected, uncalled for and an act of intimidation
Below is the full statement.
STATEMENT ON THREATS AGAINST CATHOLIC BISHOP GEORGE LUNGU BY THE REPULICAN PRESIDENT
The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has noted with dismay the hostility exhibited by the Republican President Michael Sata who issued threats against the Rev Bishop George Lungu, Catholic Bishop, for allowing prayers for the release of the constitution to be conducted in his diocese.
These attacks are unwarranted, misdirected, uncalled for and an act of intimidation. CCZ would like to support the stand taken by Bishop Lungu to allow for prayers on the release of the constitution to be conducted at one of his parishes as this is the path that the church has taken, to take the constitutional issues to the pulpit.
Let it be known that this campaign for a people driven constitution will continue until the Zambian people give unto themselves a new constitution that will improve the way our country is governed by those we elect into political office.
The church cannot standby and let the poor people of Zambia continue to wallow in abject poverty in the midst of all the God give resources we have in the nation which are befitting only a few because of lack of proper governance structures.
CCZ would like to make a gentle reminder to the President that an attack on one faithful servant of God is an attack on the entire body of Christ.
A new constitution is amust and the church will not rest until those whom we have put in office hear the voices of the people in Zambia. This, we believe, is not too much to ask of our own government.
The church leaders who are advocating for the release of a new constitution have no political ambitions, but are instead drawing their authority from their God given mandate to speak for the silent majority.
CCZ is therefore calling upon President Michael Sata to do the right thing and that is to give Zambians their constitution sooner than later.
Issued By:
Rev Dr Alfred Kalembo
PRESIDENT -COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN ZAMBIA
Sata has always been a thug! The country has lost the five years from 2011 to 2016. The economy and democracy are going backwards!
The Catholic should not think they are above the president
They should stay humble
President Sata is a caring president who acknowledges not just the catholic but all other churches
I believe the catholic is being respectful to the president , and i don’t like how this will end
Thanks
before sata became president used to attend catholic sunday services strictly, everyday sunday wth the whole family,,,, and these bishops, used to pray for him and bless him…
since became he baned church goingin his house,,,,
sata dosent know church is church, the help during amililo, during sickness especially when trouses are falling ku ma meetings
Ndobo say what you want to say in English now lol
@wazelu
i will try next time, am not as educated as you guys in UPND,,,, just dont look down on me with your educated english, you might need my small help in your UPND,,,,,
Just to add on,,, i offend no apology for my upside down english,,,, i wish well with your straight english, i hope your skin turns english too
@ndobo
My bro you are responding to an impostor .It s not me my bro. By now you should have mastered my sentence construction and my line of argument.
I understand the way you argue your points and therefore I would never question your use of English at all my bro.
For now I am maintaining a low profile until I finish my project. Its at a critical stage other wise I will lose my contract.
Happy day my bro.
@Wnzlu(impostor)
Are you not ashamed to blog under my tag. You must really be a numskull who can not even invent his own blog name!
I would advice you to stop it at once. Otherwise I will deploy my geek know how to trace your ISP and unleash hell on your communication systems.
This is a friendly advice. Take now or risk being tracked.
Kabimba has been used and now Sata has decided he has to be got rid of and pave way for his son. I have known this for a long time. There is no way Sata would feel safe under any other leader apart from his son. Sata has stepped on so many people’s toes and so he is dead afraid to trust any one other than his own son.
Right now Sata is looking for a seat to nullify so his son can stand as an MP and be co-opted into the cabinet as vice president party affairs in preparation for Sata to hand over power to him.
There is more to come. Kabimba will be got rid of on account of failing to hold the PF ‘s popularity at all time high.
The writing is on the wall – this president has no legs to stand on. He has fought all sectors of society that strengthen governments & their political survivor – the church, traditional leaders, students and workers. Even Kaponyas and Jerabos realize that they voted in a defective person and party. How worst can it get? ………. 2016 Here we come!!!
Thug life is good…If our President is a Thug,it’s much better than having a Gay president.
It’s better to be a thug than a freemason, we were all thugs in our teens.
Good for you CCZ and the pressure should continue! President Sata has shown an unprecedented level of intolerance for dissenting views. At this point, it doesn’t even seem as though he cares to listen to anyone, even when the writing is on the wall. Its a shame. He really could have made a difference in the country but he has chosen the easy way out. Democracy is hard and one has to be open to opposition even when there are good things on the ground. There seems to be a lapse in the understanding of these basic tenets.
Your excellency, MCS it is important to note that Zambian are slow at reacting but when they act, they always do it decisively….You are taking a chance especially when dealing with the oldest
The president did a good thing.That catholic priest must be put in his place like what Sata did.Sata ndye basankwa.
you sound like someone know
someone i know
Of-course you know me.I`m your father son.Your mum is saying hi.But don`t dare call now because this is the time for adults.
i thought you are always respectful and mature in your comments, when did you change ,,,,hahahahahahah! say hi to motain, Zebige and ( name censored),,
good night my friend!
Come on son have respect for your dad.I love you son but sometimes you take my love for granted maybe it is because you are the only son.I think you need a young brother,your mum and I are working on it right now.
Ki ki ki ki
Mwana wa nyoka ni nyoka.Hawa watu wa CCZ wakumbuke kwamba Sata anitwa cobra sababu ya tabia zake na roho yake ngumu kama mawe.What did they expect?
Stop using a gibberish language
You shall know them by their fruits!
Press release from George Chellah.
Stop YAPPING you stupid fools! I was elected as God in Zambia, and now you follow MY ten commandments!
If what I have just read on Zed Mumbwa is true….. then sorry to say, our president is deadly! I hope it’s not true, Kabimba may be everything but he doesnt deserve to go through what ZWD has reported this evening, yes bloggers have called him names I included but my heart sank. I hope ZWD is just being a dog, otherwise, if true, someone is indeed a motal danger!
@cindy
i saw that too! interesting mwe,,,
ZWD were just being themselves i.e being dogs.That Kabimba collapsing part and traditional healer part is even stranger than fiction.Only a mentally challenged person can believe that.
We are all entitled to our opinions.
But Watchdog has the most reliable and complex
Source in Zed.
Even your President is aware of that ….
Tafiweme ifintu. Why do politicians completely come to differ so greatly with expwctations of voters? PF wake up. That remote probability of ruling for only one term is ringing very loud. If you come to win, bless you. If you come to loose, tough luck! Seems the voice of voters against you is getting much louder. What are PF strategies and tactics that can win people’s hearts and minds? PF, you have a big challenge. If you are umaware beware. Your days are numbered, this journey can come to end soon. Its all in your hands, to hold it or to drop it.
Good that the church now knows just how Sata used him please help the people of Zambia kick out of state house he has brought a lot of suffering among the people of that country not even freedom to move around.
Be aware fellow Zambisns the enemy can use any one including the church.Ghe biggest enemy to the body if Christ are religious people who crusified our Lord ?The house of God should be used as a platform to campaign but a place of worship how do you bring division in church rember there are PF members who go to church .rrpent Bishop and begin to preach the Gospel of our Lord.You allowed your the Vice President of UPND to campaign for his party in church and guy call that prayer The Lord is watching you hypocrites.The President under the current constitution had powers to stop those advocating chaos
poor reporting and lack of journalism ethics, why nt bring the same words that sata used against the Bishop so that pipo who had missed those words can make sense from this. Church leaders must know that ove 90% of the population ar christians and some of them ar nt interested in preachng against the government. i witnessed a mass where apriest started talking abt the constitution and the members started going out of the church.
@true, that has been my concern, too. Inaccurate or biased reporting can easily become a tool of incitement. Balanced reporting would require a rebuttal with a reproduction of what they are reacting to…
When TUMFWEKO writes something against SATA then they are good but when they write something on HH,then they are bad writers.Ukomukatekela,lukanya mayo.Any way,commenting on the subject,the BISHOP was wrong.He should have engaged SATA the way other catholic bishops do.The bishop is not Jesus who cant go wrong.Remember its the catholic who brought genocide in Rwanda.These guys can be dangerous if not checked on time.By praying for constitution in that way meant that SATA and his government are evil and we need you God to prevail over these evil men to release the constitution.Because they are evil,they were not even invited for prayers and yet all the opposition were invited.How can you interpret that? The president did well to warn bwana bishop because once Zambia is on flames,all of us…
The Church body, you missed the opportunity to listen to the good message carrier when the warning was sound by him. The carrier of the good message was Chanda Chimba III the true son of this land. Dance to the tune of Dochi kubeba and do not inform us of how difficult it is to dance to that tune, enjoy.
These same bishops heavily campaigned for Sata. So until they remove sata from state house, I will never sympathise with them.
No Constitution, No PF in government in 2016. The masses have resolved and no amount of intimidation or bribery will stop that. Have you realised that even the once vocal in PF have of late stopped yapping against a people driven constitution? Gentlemen we need a people driven constitution yesterday. If we had a people driven constitution, Sata would not have been demeaning the whole nation like he did recently, RDA would have been where it belongs so that it is transparent in its operations (now it is Sata’s company), this irresponsible acquiring of debt would not have been tolerated as parliament would have been there to stop it (MPs would have had independence), general corruption in govt would have been minimal as the judiciary would have been uncompromised, etc.
These churches also misdirect their purpose in the work of God. You do not need to announce your prayers in public for the constitution to be released. Where do they put God? Don’t they believe that God can make President SATA release the constitution but bear in mind that it could be held for the good of Zambia because what guarantee do you have that those people who did it did a right thing or for their personal interest. If i remember very well the Bible says enclose yourself in quiet place and pray, u don’t to announce loud for people to see you that you can pray. Regards
Sata has now chosen not to fight against God’s people but to fight against God , let us now see who is going to win.
i like this thug the cobra, rule them the way u feel like mr president they are docile.i wonder how banda relinquished power to succumb to these docile pipo.just increase salaries for defence personnel then u re home and safe.rule them mudaala.i,ve liked yo stance eliminate some and instil fear in them until they succumb to what u rily want and that is to rule them wether they like or not.u fought hard in opposition and pipo shudn,t dream of removing in one term.be brave they will eventually fear u as a tyrant mr sata.bravo mr president