Indecent dress and provocative dancing (twerking) in churches must be stopped, National Guidance and Religious Affairs Minister Godfridah Sumaili has said.
The minister said in an interview that the trend is unholy, particularly in a country like Zambia with Christian values.
Reverend Sumaili said indecent dressing and provocative dancing were a growing and worrying trend in many churches and that it was a sight viewed as displeasing before God, particularly during Sunday services.
Rev Sumaili said God should be honoured and respected during prayers.
“Dance with strength for the glory of God. Don’t begin to dance as if you are dancing in a bar. Calling ourselves a Christian Nation means we have to be Christ-like,” Rev Sumaili said.
“God is looking for worshippers who will worship in spirit and truth. We have to present ourselves in an honouring manner and should not be offensive to him and other worshipers in how we worship.”
Rev Sumaili said it was not right the way some worshipers dressed, particularly females, as the way one dressed mattered in God’s eyes, and that a dress code was also a form of worship and respect to the Creator.The minister said that some praise teams did not dress in an acceptable manner and that one should not attract attention to themselves.
Rev Sumaili said Zambians were a blessed people and so they needed to dress in a decent and respectable fashion.She also said it was wonderful to praise God, but some worshipers did it with a dance that was sexually provocative.
Rev Sumaili said all values should be recognised such as constitutional, cultural and religious ones and that dressing culturally was to be done in the country.
She urged parents, particularly mothers, to ensure they taught their children, especially girls, how to dress in public gatherings.
Times of Zambia
Hahaha……. Taliban type of rule. Islamic state mentality. Jesus was in the company of a harlot most times, he embraced everyone.
Don’t get it mixed up, Christ embraced the sinners but NOT sin. Rev is absolutely right – it is not right for our sisters to provoke/distract brothers with certain dress code amidst prayers.
Some will stand firm but what about those who can’t? Mutima uzafendela..
I think women should dress moderately most of the time. There is no need to expose cleavage or wearing bum shorts in public. No need to expose legs in church either. Who benefits from such exposure? If they are going to a party, then it’s ok to even go naked…but church is a big NO.
I would not date or marry someone that specialises in exposing their bits, or wears very short skirts (unless they are with me) in public. That is a bright reference flag for me.
I asked my cousin to dress up better, she told me she will tell my uncle that I am admiring her boobs. And that was like shouting at me, her mum came out and I couldn’t defend myself.
Never again!!!
“Rev Sumaili said it was not right the way some worshipers dressed, particularly females, as the way one dressed mattered in God’s eyes, ”
Word has it that God created Adam and Eve naked, dear reverent. Get over yourself!
When a Bemba woman has an Easterner for a husband, she always worries about ‘mpokeleshi’ and will generally be aggressive towards young and hot girls. This is what Godfridah is exhibiting!
As far as I know and during the times I have had conversations with her spouse, Dr. Sumaili, he has not mentioned yet about mpokeleshi. So I don’t understand why this minister is worrying herself so much about this issue rather than focussing on policies to do with religion and the state …
Leave them alone. We all start going to church when its time to marry.Before that we spend much of our time in bars and when we realise that its time up we go to church to meet our gals who are now willing to stop clubing and find a man to marry for NOW. I personally love seeing those beautiful legs anyway.
Maintain your lane iwe. Preach about the stolen $42M.
Just a reminder, mukakakilwapo. We are keeping records of your looting
Minister is absolutely correct. All ladies should be dressing like our Tonga ladies in SDA. The only thing we can learn from them anyway.
What is the definition of Indecent dress and provocative dancing? At closer examination you will find that the Minister is using a definition imposed by the colonialist. The colonialist found our gyrations when dancing provocative. He couldn’t understand African rhythms and did not have the philosophy of inclusion so he called our dancing provocative and his ballroom dancing was considered decent.
African drums were banned in Churches during colonialism because they were seen as evil. In short everthing African was deemed to be evil and everything European was from heaven. The coloniser also imposed his dress on us and we started to think that if we have not covered ourselves like the white man then we are indecently dressed. If you are an African worried about the mini skirt you are…
If you are an African worried about the mini skirt you are just a hypocrite because your ancestors would wear skimpy dress and noone would complain. Why has this changed now?
It has changed because what is moral is now dictated to us by Europeans and we are busy enforcing this via churches and redundant Ministries of National Guidance and Religious Affairs
Wasting our tax money. What kind of role does she play in thieving government??????????????
You missed the ministers point my dear.
Somebody has to call out sin without being judgemental. Most of those preachers will not, least they loose potential offering.
Jesus may have hang around sinners for the purpose of saving them from sin and not to encourage it.
To the woman caught in adultery, he said “…neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more…” John 8:11
You may also recall that Jesus turned the tables upside down in the temple when they turned it into a trading place instead of that of worship. Matthew 21:12-13
Very foolish minister
This ministry proving irrelevant. I believe dancing is a product of a song or should we say a person will dance depending on the song. Minister I warn you -Find or Define your ministry otherwise you now becoming a supervisor of the church. My belief is that this ministry is supposed to be helping ministers n govt in religious matters n not regulating churches. YOU CANNOT REGULATE RELIGION!
@IndigoTyrol
Correct, that is what YOU want BUT that is not what everyone wants – so learn to speak for yourself!
Leave the girls to chose what they want to wear and when to wear it! Their lives are none of your business and neither old horse Sumaili’s.
What’s twerking and exposing a bit of skin compared to stealing Zambians’ money which lungu and his band of thugs are doing? And please don’t call Zambia a Christian nation, it isn’t and will never be. It’s more accurate to call it a wicked Satanic country going by what it’s leaders do every day, stealing, brutalising opposition.
Godfridah Sumaili should first tell Mumbi Phiri and ECL to stop twerking in church. She should then proceed and tell them to stop stealing and misusing taxpayers money. Next, she should tell ECL to disband the ministry of Religion and National guidance because it’s a waste of resources.
The Ayatollah has spoken. Let people choose to wear whatever they are comfortable with for heavens sake. Is Sumaili getting a hard on from such manner of dressing? Hey whilst you are it, please enforce strict adherence to the 10 Commandments (which are silent on the manner of dressing) and pretty loud on coveting, stealing, murder, adultery bearing false witness, keeping the Sabbath holy. I particularly love the commandment on coveting -“Thy shall not covet thy neighbours house, thou shall not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbours..
Ba Brown Envelope you are in South Africa where all manner of evil. You cant see good and evil because you are blind! You contradict yourself by saying this ministry is suppose to be helping churches. To my opinion that is exactly what she doing. Too many immoral conduct of so called men of God because of short skirts and wiggling their waist. Its time to honor God in worth manner, bravo! minister
Christian nation my ass. let women wear what they want. if yesu was around lelo he’d be twerking too, so don’t get it twisted. live/be yesu like, kwisa?
it’s hot as hell in some of those churches, leave women alone. I hate Zambia for this hypocrisy
you want the women to be wearing those long up to the ankles black dresses in Zambia? then what? just because a woman is wearing something that exposes her upper thighs it don’t mean she’s a no good person. there are more pressing issues that Zambia is facing as a nation, even on the grounds of morality, than a fashion fad.
how about them so called prophets who dress like pimps in those bright colors?
church is a joke! and Zambia is wasting so much time and recourses with these prayer nonsense, roll up your sleeves and go to work,…
That is why our Catholic Bishop says those who want to play and dance to Rhumba in Church should go to bars and not Church. Such type of entertainment is not for Church
Are they telling us that the above picture was taken in Church? If so then………hmmmml kaya mwandi
“……and that it was a sight viewed as displeasing before God, particularly during Sunday services.” And on the other days?? “Rev Sumaili said Zambians were a blessed people and so they needed to dress in a decent and respectable fashion.” Stop stealing our money imwe!! What do you think we care about more between dressing and leaders who are plundering our resources at will? You yourself are a plunder to our coffers as you role is IRRELEVANT and a waste of poor taxpayers money!!!
this ministry should be closed,shear waste of time………………..no issues to discuss about,if such issues should be tackled by the clergy not the minister…..
The Honarable Minister is Right. We have seen a lot of Gospel Videos where na ba Pastor bale fwenkula. If you switch off the sound, you may think that they are in a pub, simulating Rhumba. I wonder if they will be dancing and singing like thatwhen they encounterthe Lord in Heaven.
Says alot about the state of the church. So shouldn’t Pastors be addressing that? Uhm could it be that they are also compromised and hence they can’t say anything?
Another thing that wories me is the increasing number of young Girls patronising Nite Clubs. There will be an overload on our health services and an increased demand for burial space in future. We need our Female Officers to swing in action. Not the males, some of whom may just capitalise on the situation. We need more enpowerment for the Girl Child. The Church is sleepng on this issue. Most of them say they are in this vice due to poverty. Education and other forms of training should be free for the Girl Child. The NGOs should also take up the challenge, as well as the Women Activists. Ala mwandi uli problem ku sogoro
This minister’s role is very vague; I doubt she even knows what her role is.
Comment: I don’t think juveniles will stop patronising pub. No one is dying of Aids unless he or she is a fool.
What is the definition of Indecent dress and provocative dancing? At closer examination you will find that the Minister is using a definition imposed on her by the colonialist. The colonialist found our gyrations when dancing provocative. He couldn’t understand African rhythms and did not have the philosophy of inclusion so he called our dancing provocative. Only his ballroom dancing was considered decent.
African drums were banned in Churches during colonialism because they were seen as evil. In short everything African was deemed to be evil and everything European was considered heavenly. The coloniser also imposed his dress on us and we started to think that if we have not covered ourselves like the white man then we are indecently dressed.
What bothers me most Mme Minister is the fake miracle healers you allow to f00l poor people on national radio, ZNBC. Why do you allow such unfounded cheating on the national broadcaster???????
what load of rubbish, we were born naked, this is 2017 not 1817 move on with your backward religious beliefs, the rest of the world has.
Twerking in church! okay now that is taking it too far.
Ba Pastor ni Christ what a beautiful body. lol
good move by the ministry, People nowadays are fond of saying God see’s the heart not the body, but i tell you that from a man’s perspective we see the body and not the heart. don’t therefore, justify sin.
Si dance olo twerking ya nyoko!!! Leave the women alone iwe.
The fact is that there is a lot of moral decadence both inside and outside the Church. There is also a lot of fake confidence in condoms and ARCs. Some people cheat on condoms especially in the dark. There was a taxi driver and truck driver who infected many girls as far back as 10 years ago. It’s like Dutch courage which makes you insult your Boss while Drunk and think you can apologise in the Morning. Akale mufikulwa mwali bana makwenkwe nomba mwiswile fye abaiche.
That’s why we are jerking in church. Can one fail to erect and elect a candidate to fornicate with from a church of indecency?
These are temptations. Better i worship at home pa emmanuel tv
my wife has stopped me from attending church. she says prostitutes have been let loose into the church.
kuti bakupoka abalume mu choir.
My friend @LWANYAAH, those who have died of aids are not fools. There is no Family that has not been affected. Umwana ba mufunda pa Kuya. Not after sleeping out. We have lost just too many friends and big brains. I insist that we create more opportunities for the youths, especially the Girl Child. Someone experimented on the spirits that produce fire and went knocking on a Waikatako Wapya Substation, thinking it was his home.
This is a very wrong way of addressing the issue. First of all the minister has no right to make such ‘orders’. Secondly, her ministry is irrelevant, unnecessary and a catalyst for worsening matters. I have said time and again that as soon as a nation begins to mix the State and religion, it is asking for trouble. If churches or individuals that attend them break the law, they will be subject to the consequences just as anyone else. But they should regulate their own moral or religious affairs without the State meddling in or without the State dictating that everyone else follows some ‘christian’ rules. Zambia is not a christian country – it has a colonial legacy to the same that still lingers on, but its for all intent and purposes a country of pagans exhibiting pagan behaviour.
This Sumaili minister must sit down and repent before she can start making noise about indecent dressing or twerking…if she s really the woman of God, why hasn’t she condemned the rampant stealing going on in her government, why she didn’t say a word about the purchase of fire trucks etc she knows people are suffering in Zambia and yet she goes and starts talking about dressing (must be joking), as a minister of religion and guidance she must talk against the wrong doings by the government and the suffering of the people…These guys in PF think they can mock God, a God is a just God that cant be mocked (your days are numbered madam) all the best as u wine and dine with this so called public fieves (PF) and try to hide in the name of Christianity.