Sun, 18 Jun 2017 16:53:40 +0000
By MUKOSELA KASALWE
IT is disappointing for the the three church mother bodies top side with the opposition UPND to spread lies that Zambia is a dictatorship, says Church of God Cathedral of Miracles Bishop Naison Nyonyo.
Bishop Nyonyo said it was totally wrong for the Zambia Council for Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) and the Evangelical Fellowship in Zambia (EFZ) to side with the UPND and wondered where the impartiality was.
He said their demands to release incarcerated UPND president Hakainde Hichilema was misplaced and ill-timed as the courts had not yet decided whether he was guilty or not.
Bishop Nyonyo said the law had no special people and that it could not be applied differently if some people found themselves on the wrong side of it.
“As the Church we must always be seen to be impartial but it is disappointing to see the three church mother bodies siding with the UPND. The law has no special people and it cannot be applied differently,” he said.
He said the courts of law should be allowed to do their work independently and without interference and cautioned the three church mother bodies against commenting on issues which were active in court as they risked being cited for contempt of court.
The man of the cloth disputed assertions by the three church bodies that Zambia had turned into dictatorship and branded the remarks as false and stated that there was no curfew but citizens were freely going about their normal everyday activities.
“Here I am talking to you freely and where is this dictatorship they talking about?” he asked
He urged President Edgar Lungu not to be swayed by detractors but remain focused and resolute to better the lives of majority citizens.
On Friday, the three church mother bodies demanded the immediate release of Mr. Hichilema and complained that they were not given an opportunity to meet the Head of State to discuss the issues and consequently resorted to hold a press briefing.
