The Church has commended President Rupiah Banda for apologising to United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema and has since asked other politicians to emulate the humility exhibited by Mr Banda.
Speaking in separate interviews, the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ), and Independent Churches of Zambia (ICOZ) said Mr Banda has shown high levels of humility, which should be emulated by other politicians.
CCZ general secretary Suzanne Matale said by apologising publicly, Mr Banda was leading by example, which the citizens and politicians in particular, should emulate.
Now that President Banda has apologised publicly to Mr Hichilema and his family, Reverend Matale said the Church expected the opposition leader to accept that.
“That was a good gesture from the president. He has shown humility and is leading by example.
“If we wrong people it is incumbent upon us to apologise and as the Church we expect the Hichilema family to accept the apology,” Rev Matale said.
She said the Church was hopeful that following the apology, politicians would work at promoting unity in the country, particularly that the nation was preparing for elections next year.
[pullquote]“That was a good gesture from the president. He has shown humility and is leading by example.
“If we wrong people it is incumbent upon us to apologise and as the Church we expect the Hichilema family to accept the apology,” Rev Matale said[/pullquote]
Rev Matale said it was important for all citizens to realise that there was no human being regardless of their status who could not make a mistake.
It was, therefore, soothing that the president realised that he had made a mistake and offered an apology.
EFZ executive director Pukuta Mwanza said President Banda should be commended for the action he had taken.
Reverend Mwanza said it was difficult for some people to apologise publicly.
He said Mr Banda had showed the citizens that it was possible despite somebody’s status in society.
“As the Church, we are encouraged by the president for taking such a humble position and we commend him. Humility and maturity are important if we are to foster unity in the country,” Rev Mwanza said.
ICOZ president David Masupa said it took humility for a person to realise that they had made a mistake and apologise.
“It only takes a servant of God to be that magnanimous and we only hope that other politicians can emulate President Banda. How many politicians have apologised for their mistakes?” Rev Masupa asked.
Rev Masupa also appealed to the Asian community to accept the president’s apology, saying his statement was not meant to injure them.
Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) have also welcomed the president’s apology to Mr Hichilema, saying Mr Banda has demonstrated maturity and good leadership.
ZCTU secretary general Roy Mwaba said apologising did not mean that President Banda was weak but showed how mature and humble he was.
“We all make mistakes by virtue of being human beings but the best to do is what the president has done, by humbling himself and that shows integrity,” Mr Mwaba said.
The apology had showed that the president was accountable to the people of Zambia and had respect for humanity.
TIZ president Rueben Lifuka said he appreciated and valued the president’s apology because politics needed to reach that level, where the Head of State could apologise publicly for doing something wrong.
Mr Lifuka said the action had set the tone that politicians needed to focus on real issues that would bring development to the country.
He said doing so would reduce confusion and unnecessary tension.
[ Times of Zambia ]
The Guy Never apologised it was Dick the Jere who apologised not him. In Britain the prime Minister had to go in Person to the person he had injured and apologised. What makes Alaaa Beee so special thathe can not do it in person????????
Why should a Presido’s mouth be so loose as to force him to apologise later ? Think baba before you open it !
Opportunistic elements are always there to say nonsense in praise of their foul mouthed farmer.Alaa-Bee never apologised but the Diploma holder Dickson
This reporting is also biased. Why interview the church alone? Because you know the church preaches forgiveness and you know there is no way they will say anything against someone who apologizes. Majority of Zambians as it came be seen from blogs think R.B has diarrhea in the mouth and has Dic.k Jere cleaning up after him.
We have to be serious with his utterances and make sure he does not continue after 2011. He has condemned donors at the expense of poor Zambians. Him goes abroad for treatment. Now he is disrespecting other peoples wives forgetting he has married an under age prostitute.
RB has just apologised to his Benefactors. He has failed to do the same to the donors who help many Zambians
thanks rb you only human unlike the die hard kufwa na no sata mpombo common duiker never say never. of course hichilema keeps his wife like mwenye with a vail. he doesnt want her to be seen mu public mayb she is ugly. we all know michele, laura, maureen, christine,
RB is a racist pig. He is not fit to be President.
Why does he want to see HH’s wife anyway? So he can molest her, since he likes young girls.
POLICE in Kapiri Mposhi have arrested a 27-year-old man for having sex with a goat, which later died.
Central Province police commanding officer Simon Mpande confirmed the incident in an interview on Tuesday and identified the man as Amon Chisenga aged 27 of Kabati village in Lunchu B area of Chief Mukonchi in Kapiri Mposhi district.
“The incident happened on 4th July 2010 around 02:00 hours . . . he was found having sex with the goat by the complainant who is female Febby Kunda, aged 56, also of Lunchu B in Kapiri Mposhi district he is actually admitting the charge,” Mpande said.
He said the goat would be subjected to a postmortem in order to assert if there is some semen in the female goat.
SHOULD HE APOLOGISE TO THE WOMAN WHOM HE SHUNNED FOR THE GOAT?
I would have thought that the president has far more pressing and important issues to attend to instead of talking malicously about other people’s wives and being racist to Asians. Can our president ever be taken seriously, I doubt it. Is it any wonder that nothing is going well in our country. The country needs total redemption.
anione anione mpemvu inagwela mutobwa. oops someone has bitten the hand that feeds him, its now time for damage control. RB u have injured you local donors from Kamwala.
This story lacks an anchor and begins flowing forward from mid-stream. What is the background imformation that neccesitated this apology?
RB appologised because senior members in MMD like VJ and the rest advised him to for FEAR the ASIANS he derogatory reffered to as ba Mwenye were to withhold campaign funds (our Indian comrades in Zambia are among the richest) we all know this. He could have lost out and he surely will loose out on the Asian community funding for his re-elections. Well done ala-bee, you make the work of the PACT very easy.
Yes, it was a rare show of maturity. Keep it up, Mr President!
RB chipuba. If people at home vote him back in office, I will stop all contributions to that country.
These are just useless churches. How can they heap praise of RB for apologising when they did not condemn his action? Where were they? Was it the first time to learn about the story? S.T.U.P.I.D Church organisations. Why not just ask for brown envelopes?