The People’s Alliance for Change will never support the legalising of homosexuality in Zambia

The People’s Alliance for Change says it does not and will never support the legalising of homosexuality in Zambia as it is an unnatural practice that is not supported by our culture and religion.

Party President Andyford Banda says whether the jailing of Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba to 15 years by the High Court for engaging in sex which is against the order of nature is harsh or not, same sex marriage remains illegal in Zambia and we as a party do not support it.

Mr Banda said Homosexuality is an abomination; a grave sin as it is against the order of nature and PAC does not understand how two normal human beings of the same sex with five senses can choose to engage in sexual relations.

Below is a full statement…

Peoples Alliance for Change (PAC) is a member of the African Liberal Network, ALN, which some illiterate and ignorant people have in recent times accused of promoting homosexuality. Nothing can be further from the truth.

ALN is an organization composed of 44 political parties from 30 countries in Africa. The ALN serves to promote liberal objectives and principles throughout the continent. The objectives are listed as follows;

• Facilitate the development and growth of Liberal Democratic parties.

• Encourage solidarity among member parties with the aim of assisting them to achieve power through democratic means.

• Establish an alliance of like-minded Liberal Democratic parties in Africa for sharing information and experiences.

Some of the members are from the following countries; Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

Some of the notable political parties include the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of Kenya which is the main opposition headed by the Retired Hon. Raila Amaro Odinga. We have the Democratic Alliance (DA) of South Africa main opposition until recently headed by Mr. Mmusi Maimane. The Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) led by former President of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade which party current President Macky Sall also belonged to. In fact His Excellency Macky Sall like his predecessor is a champion of liberal democracy and his party is a member of ALN. The other is Rally of the Republicans (RDR) of Ivory Coast which is the ruling party led by the current President His Excellency Alassane Ouattara. Of course we have the UPND and PAC of Zambia just to mention a few.

Looking at the lineup of political parties and leaders some of whom are from Muslim countries, it would be foolish and a great sense of ignorance for anyone to think that these leaders are members of the African Liberal Network and Liberal International where the Democrats of the United States are a member, to discuss gay rights. The PF propaganda of labeling the African Liberal Network as a gay organization is as a result of total ignorance and a quest to make us the members look bad. It’s good that the people of Zambia can see through their eyes that these machinations are just a way to distract the people of Zambia from key important issues such as the Bill 10, higher mealie meal prices, the free falling Kwacha, lack of policy direction, corruption, political violence and a whole lot of other things the PF government have failed to address.

What is our stance on gay rights? As PAC, we would like to say from the onset that we cannot understand how people become homosexuals. This is against all norms of religion, culture and society. On one hand people say it takes two consenting adults, but so does adultery – two consenting adults that choose to do away with their vows does not make a rampant vice right.

The PAC stance on this matter is that we follow family values instilled in us as normal, cultural values we have observed in different communities, societal values we have observed but even more important, what scripture says about the vice; If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. (Leviticus 20:13). There is no other way to describe homosexuality. It is an abomination; a grave sin; it is against the order of nature, or natural order. Natural order encompasses the natural relations of beings to one another in the absence of law, and so we can see that in all fairness even natural order does not encompass homosexuality. Further, we are aware that even seemingly ‘straight’ individuals, at times engage themselves in homosexual behavior for adventure or to seek some monetary favour.

We mention again here that PAC is a member of the ALN. The ALN mandate does not mean that parties that are members support homosexuality, although there are parties such as the DA of South Africa who may support the rights of homosexuals, but this does not make everyone in the group, an automatic supporter of homosexuals. This is the same as belonging to SADC where South Africa have laws that allow gay rights while other countries don’t. Does it mean everyone in the group is a gay supporter?

Liberalising homosexuality would make this unnatural behavior seem natural and normal to future generations. PAC is against legalizing such a vice. Whether the sentencing of the pair in Kapiri Mposhi last week is too harsh or not is a story for another day.

However, of interest to us this week is our relationship with America. Aid is not good, but let us be realistic, with where the country is, and how PF has grounded everything into the ground, we cannot under score the need for assistance. Zambia as a country is not self sufficient and if there was any self sufficiency, it has been eroded by incompetence. The PF has zero plan on how we can emerge from the hole they have driven us into and the aid from various partners is vital, although we are no on the verge of losing it. What would happen if the biggest donor pulled the plug on their money – we borrow some literature from their website.

Health

USAID supports Zambia in strengthening its public health system at the national, provincial, and community levels. With an HIV prevalence of 12.3 percent in the general population, Zambia benefits from USAID’s assistance, through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), to scale-up integrated prevention, care, and treatment programs and reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS. In collaboration with Zambia’s Ministry of Health, USAID’s programs also work on increasing the quality of health care, the prevention and treatment of other diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis, and on changing attitudes and behavior with regard to maternal and child health, family planning, nutrition, and gender-based violence.

Economic Development, Environment, and Food Security

Through the Feed the Future initiative, USAID tackles rural poverty and malnutrition with activities that address policy issues, promote access to markets, and facilitate private-sector investment to increase agricultural production and incomes. Zambia has a tremendous wealth of natural resources which, however, face increasing threats, including deforestation and illegal and unsustainable wildlife trafficking. USAID programs promote sustainable natural resource management to conserve Zambia’s forests and combat wildlife trafficking. Through the Power Africa initiative, USAID seeks to increase the generation of, and access to, clean energy sources, particularly in rural and off-grid spaces.

Education

Zambia has made significant gains in increasing access to education, but the education system continues to be plagued by inadequate resources, poor education quality and low progression rates. In collaboration with the Zambian government and other implementing and cooperating partners, USAID education programs aim to increase learners’ performance in the early grades, and target foundational literacy skills. USAID programs also strengthen the capacity of teachers and school administrators to better deliver education services, and provide improved teaching and learning materials.

Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance

With a long history of democratic governance and peaceful transitions of power, Zambia has a strong foundation on which to build accountable and responsive systems of governance that advance the nation’s long-term development priorities. Recent trends, however, including shrinking democratic space and rising corruption levels, reveal threats to this opportunity. USAID supports Zambia’s democratic traditions and citizen-responsive governance by strengthening civil society and citizen participation, advancing respect for human rights, promoting free and fair elections, and improving governance accountability, efficiency, and transparency in the delivery of public services.

Clearly this partnership is essential. We are behaving, however, like one who is being supported by a brother while climbing a rickety ladder. As you feel more confident you start saying to he who is supporting the ladder, he can let go…the moment he does, you fall flat with egg on your face!

One thing is that even countries like Israel receive military aid, we don’t hear arrogance because they recognise its importance. This ‘Mugabe’ style arrogance simply because one is cocooned from the reality of a collapsed economy needs to stop! It won’t take us anywhere.

Don’t be swayed, the American government is not pointing a gun at the Zambian government to implement gay rights. They are asking for mutual respect. The same arrogance that President Lungu and his cohorts showed the IMF is the same one they are trying to show the US Government and yet they are still chasing for the IMF bailout. And unlike the IMF, who will not honour or sign any deal with PF, the American government is already cooperating with us and annually grant us a whole lot of millions of dollars. If they disappear, we will be the first ones to start trekking the globe seeking handouts – on a very expensive jet I might add!.

PACs foreign policy is premised on mutual respect with our cooperating partners. PAC will work towards self sustainability while continuing to cooperate with partners. PAC does not believe America is pointing a gun to Zambia to implement gay rights but rather that we stop being arrogant and wasteful in spending the resources available to us.

Andyford Mayele Banda

President

People’s Alliance for Change (PAC)