State House says it will not force opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema to attend the national day of prayers and reconciliation on October 18th, if he chooses to stay away.
And State House says it will not respond to Mr Hichilema’s letter to President Edgar Lungu over the day of prayers and reconciliation since the opposition leader has published the document in the press.
Special Assistant to the president for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda says President Lungu will freely fellowship with all people that will turn -up for the national event which is above partisan interests. Mr Chanda says members of the public have been called upon to participate without any conditions.
He said it is important that the country promotes and embrace prayer and reconciliation to move the nation forward.
Mr Hichilema had written to President Lungu highlighting issues he feels should be addressed before convening the day of prayers and reconciliation.
The letter has since been published as an advert in the Post Newspaper.
Meanwhile, PF Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri has called on Zambians to turn up in large numbers for the day of prayer and reconciliation on October 18th 2015.
Mrs Phiri says Zambians should ignore calls by a named opposition political leader asking them to shun the event.
She also called on political parties to promote co-existence as was the case in the just ended Lubansenshi parliamentary by election.
Mrs Phiri was speaking to ZNBC news in an interview in Lusaka Wednesday.
President Edgar Lungu on opening parliament declared October 18 as a day of national prayers and reconciliation.
intact let him keep his dark world demons at his farm so that prayers can flourish freely with any challenges
It is people like HH that keep Amos emplyed.
Thanks
Bb2014
Briefing journalists in Lusaka today Chief Government Spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili and Amos Chanda said….
We have to let you know that the President is unable and incapable of reading your suggestions at the moment as he is currently suffering from a huge $300,000 hangover.
If he wakes up at some time tonight, I will try to pass your message on to him. However, there is no guarantee that he will be able to read it due to the fact that load-shedding by all his friends at ZESCO has left the whole Nation in darkness.
This is is not his fault, but entirely due to God forgetting to make it rain, and with his day of prayer our great President is urgently addressing the issue. He has sternly rebuked our Creator very severely for this mistake, and pointed out that if HE has not made…
It would be nice for the Head of State , Edgar to at least tel us what is being reconciled and with whom?
This is is not his fault, but entirely due to God forgetting to make it rain, and our great President is urgently addressing the issue. He has rebuked the Creator severely for this mistake, and pointed out that if he has not made any mistakes it is very unpatriotic for God to make some……
He recently assured me that his recent discussions with God have resulted in a promise to supply enough Sunshine for all the SOLAR POWERED MILLS he has bought at great National expense.
He is also awaiting delivery of the 500,000 jobs he ordered, and the re-valuation of the Kwacha to 1-1 to the Dollar.
Zambians, you can relax. The President has said he has not made any mistakes and everything is under control!
sate house indeed. No comments necessary.
but HH actaully said he will attend the prayers! what is this talk about HH ? were the prayers mearnt to HH alone?
The way the ruling party and its cohorts makes one wonder as to whether it must always be HH to render credence to anything by the way everyone tries to zero in on him as if HH has no opinion of his own on certain personal issues! Seems its only HH that has norms of behavior prescribed for him seeing the way he is referenced on anything. For anything the expectation is that HH will be first to comment, how boring! On prayers a general call was made and various comments have been made but like the fashion of some animals being more equal than others even on spiritual matters we have to be entertained on HH! Let the SDA deal with HH, my Zambian family is not subscribing to the day of national prayer because the feeling is that the mind should be attuned with spiritual preparedness.
People will be told to close their eyes while they loot.
This issue is meant to demonised HH and UPND what the want is that he catches the bet and chooses not to participate then PF will be happy and use it as a campaign tool its a gimmick dont buy it. If i were HH and UPND i would make sure i attend without fail.
The reality is this: many people will attend the day of prayer and many people will stay away. Many pastors of all types will pray in all manner and form and other pastors will skip it. Medias like Lusaka Times, Daily Mail, Times of Zambia, etc will portray it as a huge success. Medias like the Post, Zambian Watchdog will portray it as a huge failure. The day of prayer would have come and gone. But Zambian politicians will still remain corrupt, deceitful, manipulative, etc. The Zambian media will continue with mediocrity and polarizing the nation. The Zambian economy will remain weak if we continue doing things the way we have done them the past 50 years. Since there is a call for reconciliation did President Lungu call HH to, at least inform him that he was appointing one of his MPs as…
Those that will attend should not close their eyes. There is just too much looting under pf, no wonder the country is in such mess.
Is this day global or it is just in zambia.. Those that will attend should not close their eyes and allow pf to continue looting.
There is no need for this proposed day.We all know that the problems we are facing beginning with the divisions within the country and the poor economy are Sata’s legacy.Just go and pray with his family at Heroes acre.You know where to find him why try to exorcise the whole nation over the illiterate dictator’s issues.Leave us to look for money for mealie meal,fuel etc.Some pipo will attend simply coz their non attendance will be noticed.
In my opinion, when a Government resorts to prayer, they are hinting to you rather blatantly that they have failed! You do not have to be a rocket scientist to notice that these prayers have come at such a convenient time when there are many problems that the country is facing and engaging the whole country in these prayers is a psychological antic to share the blame for the problems- clearly if you are being invited to take part in solution, then you have accepted responsibility for the problem! I agree with HH but I wish he would elaborate as concisely as I have.
I don’t know whether prayers have ever cured mismanagement, wako ni wako, corruption etc. 50 years of independence and I believe we have been praying all this time yet we are still one of the poorest countries in the world. So go and waste your time praying while your friends are working and developing. God does not encourage laziness. Playing, drinking and praying does not lead to economic development. That’s the problem with PF instead of developing correct policies they are praying. What a joke. South Korea which was as poor as Zambia 40 years ago did not develop through prayers in October.
This whole fasting and reconciliation was targeted at one person; HH. If he does not attend, the whole fiasco is a flop. Full stop!
Comment:this is a battle between seventhday & the rest (catholic) enemy number one.remember the way hh behaves to pf thats the way his church treats catholics.add on from here facts bite. Kalusa joseph
Ine nkalanya chabe,nothing will change.The same people will be drinking soon afte ‘praying’
Even prayer is organised. You don’t just start screaming, you organize your thoughts as you petition your deity.
So, a-Lungu, who do we need to reconcile with, why do we need to reconcile. In short what are we praying for. But then being as clueless as you are, even you don’t understand the purpose for your prayer day.
If the whole charade was meant for genuine prayers I don’t think you would have had a problem to explain that to people who doubt you.
Why not just say lets meet for some Jameson. We can still discuss over some bitters.
To which god should we pray, since we do not know our presidents religious inclinations?
GOD IS NOT A FOOL,WAIT AND SEE.YOU GO TO PLAY AND INSULTING?
People or organizations should never be compelled to gather for prayer. Its a personal matter. Its ridiculous that people are quick to judge those that decide not to attend the prayers as being ‘unholy’ or nonreligious. There is no requirement anywhere in the Zambian laws or rules that anyone aspiring for leadership needs to be of faith – nor should there be this general pretentiousness that Zambians are a ‘God fearing’ lot. A number of pharisees, including Amos Chanda, have suddenly sprung up on market corners to proclaim that they are holier than thou.
And while eyes will be closed during prayer, the looting of resources will continue unabated.
This prayer thing is polarizing the nation further. But the id!ots in leadership who survive on divide & rule seem to be enjoying every minute of it. All of us the citizenry are being sucked into their stupidity.
You buffoons…..leave HH alone. Your prayers are like failing to answer a question in an exam, then you opt to stop your work and keep praying to God yo help you solve a calculus mathematical analysis. …how devious these *****s are….PF.
I hope it will not be in the night. Guess you know WHY!
I’m of the opinion that if God was truly interested in the internal matters of the Republic of Zambia we would not be sitting here today talking about ka Lungu as our president. No way. As far as our problems go, this day of prayer gimmick will be as effective as a farmer who goes to the bush naked and dances around a big tree, asking the tree to send him rain.
I thought that as a nation we have prayed for rain before, what is wrong with the latest prayers?
And we pray for God’s guidance everyday in our homes, what is wrong with national prayers?
But then, if you pray to Satan then you fear publicly praying to God, don’t you? in case God embarrasses you in public. You may have seen how God casts demons out of some people at prayer meetings, some leaders may just suffer the same fate at public Christian prayer meetings.
bwana Terrible my friend,
this prayer business is one of the most contentious topics people can engage in. Understandably so. Although it need not disintegrate into a chaotic shouting match.
In any case, no matter what views one may have about prayer, I think it’s fair to say that we here in Zambia simply wish prayer yielded better results than we see today. Just look around you. If these are the fruits of prayer, I shudder to even imagine a country without prayer ka. Maybe that’s what’s happening in Norway. All that freezing cold is a result of lack of prayer. Those miserable Norwegian chaps..
Obviously Lungu is not a student of history.
The conflicts and lives lost in the past due to religion have taught the World the terrible lessons of mixing Church and State. Every progressive country has a secular government and freedom of belief.
This call for prayers is retrogressive and divisive in itself. He should leave religious matters to the churches and concentrate on the economy which was the job he was elected to do.
Either he is just plain stupid or he is being devious and insincere.
As usual HH will dragged to church like a small boy..well he is a baby christian.