By Rev Moses Lungu
Telesphore Mpundu is no doubt a respected clergy in the Zambian community. His flock respect his word and often act on his instructions – direct of indirect.
Zambia has a huge Catholic population, and this is the religious sector that retired Archbishop of Lusaka represents.
To hear a leader of one of the country’s biggest religious grouping predict chaos in 2021 if an election does not go the way he wants, or he is anticipating sends a chilling effect into my spine.
You don’t expect the Right Reverend to be careless in his opinion. And you don’t expect him to be irresponsible. We have only one Zambia and this is the only place we have known as home.
And you expect a man who commands so much respect and following to be a unifier; one whose frustrations are not poured out with the intent to trigger an emotional rather than a logical reaction.
This, unfortunately, is a path Archbishop Mpundu is riding on. His frustration stems from the failure to manage the preliminaries of the dialogue process.
Early this week, Archbishop Mpundu featured on a radio program in Lusaka on which he predicted chaos in 2021 if the opposition does not win the election.
To put it in his words, the clergyman is warning that if the breakdown in the rule of law is not addressed, the 2021 general elections will record unprecedented chaos and bloodshed.
Bloodshed? This should possibly only exist in the mind of Archbishop Mpundu.
Since 1964, Zambia has held elections free of bloodshed. Why should 2021 be so unique to evoke such travesty.
Even first Republican president Kenneth Kaunda’s 27 years was not ended through the barrel. Zambians majestically rose to the challenge and addressed their misgivings in the most civil way they possibly could. And that’s what we have always done.
Yes, we had food riots prior to the 1991 elections. There were a few incidents of destruction pre multi-partism, but this was understood to be part of the push to liberate a people.
But we are never known to spill blood. And why should this be Archbishop Mpundu’s main point of contention?
Through a popular vote, Zambians ushered the late Frederick Chiluba as second Republican president, the first democratically elected, through the ballot.
We remain a beacon of peace. We are a model of democracy even in this our new dispensation.
When the late president Chiluba attempted to manipulate the constitution to seek a third term, it was not blood that brought that attempt to an end.
A resolute population stood firm, used every channel available, and brought to a stop what would have been president Chiluba’s third term bid. No blood was shed on the altar of politics.
We have gone on to have elections and today stand at five presidents four of whom have been produced in the last 28 years of our democracy with no bloodshed.
In 2006, Patriotic Front founder Michael Sata lost to the then incumbent Levy Patrick Mwanawasa. He was widely seen to have won that election and pockets of resistance in few urban areas ended soon as they started.
Two years later, Sata lost to president Rupiah Banda before he eventually won in 2011. President Sata remains to be the most recognizable opposition leader of our democracy. Even with his good following, no blood was shed.
We also had elections in 2015 and 2016 both of which passed without incident as President Edgar Lungu ascended to the thrown without incident.
If eight presidential elections have been held since 1991 without incident, what gives Archbishop Mpundu the impetus to predict bloodshed in 2021?
It will be good for the Archbishop to substantiate his claim with empirical evidence of how the country will degenerate into chaos to an extent of bloodshed if his preferred 2021 opposition suffers an expected defeat.
In the absence of demonstrating clearly the substance of his claim, we will be left to conclude that indeed the clergyman is an envoy of the opposition leader advocating regime change at whatever cost even if it means losing lives.
The Author is the Executive Director Evangelical Youth Alliance Lusaka Zambia
Let’s pray for the Bishop so that he can come to his senses.
there is so much violence in the world because of religion……they all preach hate,,,Genocide was started by the catholic church in Rwanda…..stay away from false prophets
Well said … the smart people of the Zambian Enterprise know better than engage in violence.
Let’s roll …
Either Rev Lungu is uneducated or just refuses to reason. What Bishop Mpundu said was,there will be violence if nothing is done about the prevailing conditions where PF cadres are allowed to be lawless and oposition cadres re arrested for defending themselves
Rev Moses Lungu supporting Edgar Lungu. He should just keep quiet and avoid exposing his wako no wako mentality.
Nomba ama Reverend amatoloshi!!! Awe mwe … kwati zimputula zyakusona. Ala kuno ngo uko!!!
Heaven help us all …
The Bishop is right, Let us not bury our heads in the sand.There are problems in Zambia arising from 2016 elections which need to be discussed, The speaker never assumed instrument of power when there was a presidential petition.The 50 plus one in the constitution need to be discussed so that next election go on smoothly.14 days of petition left zambian hanging.Legal court need to make it clear. ECZ need to be neutral .announcing results more than registered voters would put country on fire,Let us solve these before2021.zambians can do it let us put country first.
Just bury your own head in the sand. You think he will HH win by threatening us of violence? Come 2021 you will still be complaining with your senile bishop.
I know very well the author of this article. He trained at Fiwale Mission in Masaiti. He was a pastor there but they got rid of him. He proved to be a dishonest person. He is one of the pastors for Lungu. Having said that I want to advise the PF leadership to listen and pay attention to the voice of reason of Archbishop Mpundu instead of paying ba kandile to insult him. He said what he did out of concern for the country not for money. Remember when the time came for Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein, the kandiles were no where to be seen. They faced the fate alone.
My friend time will come when the voice of reasoning will be on you. I raised facts which need to be looked at but you just write generally, Take note of what I have laid down.I did not mention HH just comment of what I have said
The HH phobia has really caught PF.Look you are now looking like mediocre characters that you are.FIX THE ECONOMY ANYTHING LESS YOU NEED *****S FOR SUPPORTERS.
I have been waiting for the response from the Catholic church either local or vatican and they are quite. This means he said with the blessings from his church. I therefore conclude that Roman Catholic church is well known for inciting violence as the case in Rwanda Genocide. Any way what do you expect from people who run the Mafia? Shame on you ba katolika and your grandfather Mpundu.
@Denkwi: Mother fcker, your IGNORANCE AND STU.PIDITY are astounding but not surprising!
Do you know how many of your supporters are Catholic?Need we remind you that the architect of this project you are chewing from was a Catholic Michael Sata?PF should follow these paid bloggers they are sinking you,find more intelligent people for the job…
Shimwana if you are paid to blog it doesn’t mean that other people have been paid too. You put your opinion and others put their opinions. You want everyone to think exactly like you think. You have got your reasons why you think Bishop is right and others have their reasons. Others are saying the Catholic priests played a part in the Rwanda genocide, you’re saying no they didn’t. Well that’s how you see the situation. Personally I don’t need payment to express my opinion.
As it wàs in the time of Noah, people didn’t take heed of the warnings. They perished.
Indeed Catholic = genocide.
Tresphore Mpundu = Agent of the devil.
Catholic priests/bishops = sex outside marriage.
Catholic priests/bishops = sodomy
Hence the statement from Mpundu goes without condemnation by his church. Long live Zambia.
Uko another one decampaining you…pabwato mulebundwa,carry out a survey and find out how many people have been your voters…you are sinking your own ubwato…
5.1 so to you the vote is paramount to peace and security. The PF can lose the election but Zambia will always be there. We had Unip, MMD and now PF. You never know a party that’s not even on the menu could take over from the PF. Te yamuyaya.
Ndanje Khakis naimwe PF talking about peace?Please PF has brought unprecedented lawlessness, violence.How do you even talk about PF and peace in the same sentence?Landako corruption olo confusion lack of economic direction,even austerity measures are too much for you.
What is that saying about the words of Elders?
Mau ba akulu awama akagonela?
Elders don’t just talk! Past performance is the best predictor of future performance! Foresight resides with the wise.
What the bishop is saying is if we go into 2021 with the status quo of violence, it may get terribly bl00dy! We saw what happened in Sesheke where gun rotting PF cadres were allowed to roam freely. Poor police officers who tried to do the right thing ended up being retired in PF interest. What happens when opposition cadres also decide to meet PF cadres on their terms of gun on gun? We still have a chance to heed the warning and avert the unthinkable! Ostrich Mentality won’t help us! Let’s face reality because it is our women, children and the elderly who suffer the most when hell breaks…
Let’s face reality because it is our women, children and the elderly who suffer the most when hell breaks loose. Some of us may be in the diaspora but we must remember we have loved ones to worry about. Let us look at both sides of the coin of violence – the PF side and the UPND side. How I wish we can do away with party legalia! It creates base, violent animal instincts! Out political competition should be about ideas on how we can make our country better and how the citizens can be empowered to deal with leaders who don’t keep their word!
Poor reverend, how do you attack someone who cannot defend himself? The so called reverend, pastors, etc. are appalling. These are the guys who are using poor orphans to enrich themselves. Members of several churches overseas donate money meant for orphans. However, such donations end up in the pastors’ pockets. Shame on you.
Is it suprising! That this came from this man who belongs to this group of so called fathers, but keep on molesting and sodomising young boys and lmpregmanting their “sisters”. The behaviour of these people is far from what they call themselves. They are more circular than the circular world. They are closer to the devil than Jesus Christ. They are there for their own life not the life of the larger masses in their churches. They are there to make girls pregnant and damp them. These things we know because the people who are made pregnant are our own sisters not only their nuns. Surely this man in the name of a bishop must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. He has outlived his usefulness in the organization that has a truck record of molesting and sodomising young boys and…
What do you mean by circular? Don’t you know the difference between secular and circular? The two have different pronunciations as well as meanings.
…This so called Bishop, has outlived his usefulness in the organization that has a truck record of molesting and sodomising young boys and making their nuns pregnant.
Why are you talking about violence? Some of you on this blog don’t think that when real violence occurs you will even write all this nonsense.Even telesphore Mpundu can’t run away if things can go sour in the country.( if the country is on fire)
And some you don’t even know and understand what violence brings.
Bane choose what to write about.
For sure if PF thinks they can rig again like they did in 2015 and 2016 there will be real violence and the foolish dictator risks a lot. Knowing PF arrogance, they are just banking on rigging again but this timehis around it will not work. If they force matters too much, violence will be unavoidable. The writing is on the wall. Only PFools can’t see it.
Someone has interpreted the silence by the Catholic as endorsement of TMs statements. No it doesn’t. They simply don’t want to be associated with these sentiments. Remember they want to concentrate on the dialogue and TMs rantings won’t help at all.
When I read the insults bloggers hip on Bushop Mpundu I can also predict that hell is empty and demons and devils are busy blogging. Bishop Munda was just expressing his opinion and he is entitled to his option. He does not to agree with everyone for him to be called a holy man. Remember Jesus and Old Testament Prophetics predicted violence like the destruction of the Jewish Temple which Jesus predicted and Devils and demons condemned Jesus. Wait until what Bishop Mpundu is predicting to be false that’s when you can prove him wrong rather than demanding for his blood. You sons of vipers, why do you want to be holier than thou?
Remember that Bishop Mpundu did not want to be part of the dialogue process and some of you evil people drugged him into your fake dialogue thinking he is going…
This Rev has a history mischief, he has no legs, simply uneducated
Telesphore Mpundu is a UPND cadre.He joined UPND together with GBM.Sadly for him,majority Catholic in Zambia support Mr Sata’s party PF.Mpundu is predicting chaos because he knows that his prefered candidate HH wont win in 2021 too because there is no WIND OF CHANGE in Zambia!!We have had several presidential elections since 1964 and all have been peaceful,so what is so special about the 2021 general elections?I know why Mpundu is panicking now.It is because 2021 elections will be HH’S 6TH and the LAST ONE because nobody in Zambia would listen to Kainde after 2021 if he loses!!!
Njimbu moron speak for yourself. My household and I will follow change this time around
Those who speak with conviction about what they believe they know have a right to do so. And so do those who criticize them. What distinguishes the two especially those who criticize is the manner of the criticism and the garb this criticism comes dressed in. In order for us to prepare for the future, let’s pay attention to what happened in the past and what is currently happening around us. Unsheathing the knives against each other should never be the way to resolve our misunderstandings. Civility and reason are a better and superior alternative.
Trib.al Mpundu, former catholic bishop, will be uder evacuation to mediclinc by the time the elections come.
If the 2021 elections shall be bloody, then the main opposition shall be to blame. Definitely they shall be the complainers should the ruling party win. History will go down for upnd as the party that brought civil war in Zambia. So they work hardest to ensure this doesn’t happen. Accordingly dialogue can only take place between two people or groups which are in agreement. It can’t take place between two people who are insulting each other. Zcid does not take this statement into account. Someone should teach them on how to conduct a dialogue if they are to be successful in bringing the rulers and the opposition.
And this is what the former Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lusaka wants, Upnd must win and then there shall be peace. Let the people decide without coercion or intimidation. In 1964 they voted Unip, 1991 they voted MMD and 2011 it was PF. Come 2021 they will decide regardless of whatever tactics PF may use. It’s either they give PF another chance or they ask them to leave. Please stop all this nonsense of CHAOS, REVOLUTION, CHANGE talk.
Self-aggrandizement and corruption are what they are good at. Putting his name on a school makes him feel big and powerful and yet he knows deep inside that he is a scared, lonely man who relies on corrupting and bribing his minions to protect his interests.
Yes the school looks pretty but it will just need few years before it is neglected and those learning equipment will turn into cobwebs and rot.
Most secondary schools constructed under the KK regime looked this good, if not better but most of those dormitories and laboratories are now filled with cobwebs, snakes and human excretion. They are a dump with only few areas habitable.
Building them using corrupt money is easier but maintaining them will be a challenge. You need to be able to attract talent of teachers and students…
…You need to be able to attract talent of teachers and students and to do that you need also improve facilities around the area – e.g. hospitals, roads, amenities, markets, etc.
Improve the existing schools and facilities before you go on a building spree and I will be impressed. You know in China there are ghost towns with fancy houses and buildings and no one even lives there – read my lips!
In this country people think upside down and truly our average collective IQ is below 40.
It is unfortunate that many bloggers have not divided what the Bishop said. The Bishop was warning the nation that if nothing is done about the current situation, chaos will prevail during 2021 Election. It is no secrete that UPND cadres and PF cadres have fought before in Shesheke and one of the towns in Northwestern Province. What happened in these two towns was chaos at a small scale. If the cause which made the two groups to fight is not resolved what will stop the chaos at large scale to take place during 2021 elections? What the Bishop has said is a fact, therefore, we have to pray and resolve the problem to avoid chaos. God is not going to force people to reconcile and stop people who want to fight. God respects the will of a human beings. Do not take things for grant. The current…
What can you defend Tresphore Mpundu for? He is so careless that if civil war broke out no one will be spared including the Catholics defending this lost sheep full of nothing but cadaism. Truth be told, he is wrong. Its only those who speak with the devil can say what he said.
THIS MAN DOES NOT WORSHIP THE TRUE GOD HE IS A VERY GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE DEVIL AND ITS FOLLOWES I AM CATHOLIC BUT HIM ? NOWANDER HE RETIRED
This disciple of Christ has sunk beneath Judas.