Wed, 21 Jun 2017 09:05:20 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
THE purported joint statement issued by the convenors of last week’s press conference on the state of the nation address was emotional, confrontational and antagonistic and undermined our board by accusing us of being part of it when we were not consulted, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) has charged.
The EFZ has also demanded that the convenors withdraw their misleading statements that the joint press conference was held with the support and blessing of EFZ as it could not be cited as the third umbrella body present at the conference because it was not represented.
In a statement signed by EFZ president Pukuta Mwanza and two other board members, EFZ distanced itself from the meeting which took place at Kapingila House last week, saying it did not support the press statement issued by the purported Church mother bodies because they failed to inspire hope for the people.
“Without endeavouring to go into detail and specificity of the joint press statement, we are not in support of it because the emotional tone did not reflect the spiritual nature of our work although it described the challenges the country was facing. It failed to inspire hope for the people of this country and instead left them in total despair.
“We strongly feel that it is our duty to guide our nation by not only pointing at wrongs, but also providing well-articulated alternative solutions to the challenges without being confrontational or antagonistic in our engagements,” read the statement in part.
EFZ said while it has had joint statements and common view points with the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) and the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), last week’s purported joint conference had no contribution from EFZ.
“We recognise that there has been a long history of the three Christian church mother bodies on various issues affecting the nation but the said joint press conference lacked our board’s approval as the convenors opted to deal with an individual.
“By not consulting and working through the secretariat of EFZ, it meant that EFZ had been excluded from a formal and official involvement in the joint press conference and as such, we find the action wanting as it amounted to undermining the authority of the board of EFZ- a type of divide and rule,” reads the statement in part.
The statement further charged that the meeting held last week did not even qualify to be called the state of the nation because it fell short of the consultative process that preceded it as such an important event was characterised by prayer to seek guidance from God before church leaders could discuss pertinent issues they wanted to address. “Bearing this in mind, we expect that such an undertaking should be preceded by careful and prayerful reflection in order that we rely upon the voice of God and on his direction in the affairs of the nation,” reads the statement.
The EFZ has, however, appealed for calm and called on Zambians to show tolerance to each other, promote love and forgiveness, and endeavour peace-making and called upon its membership across the country to take up prayer seriously and uplift the nation and all leaders to God.
