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Zambia is not a personal property of MMD – Chihana

Zambia is not a personal property of MMD – Chihana
Written by Lambwe Kachali
Saturday, March 07, 2009 10:29:14 AM

Zambia is not a personal-to-holder property of the MMD government, International Fellowship of Christian Churches (IFCC) president Bishop Simon Chihana said yesterday.

Reacting to chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha who disputed the Roman Catholic Bishops' observations in their pastoral letter that highlighted several pitfalls in the government's management of national affairs, Bishop Chihana advised Lt Gen Shikapwasha and the government against living in denial.

He said it would be difficult for the executive to reduce the animosity and tension in the country if it failed to take advice from stakeholders. Bishop Chihana said the government should not pretend as though everything were well in the country when they were able to see that many wrong things were going wrong.

He advised Lt Gen Shikapwasha, who is also information minister, to learn to tell the truth, especially that he was also a reverend.

"This country is not a personal-to-holder property by the sitting government. Governments come and go, but the truth needs to be told. There is nothing wrong with the Church to make observations, and in this case the observations made in the Pastoral Letter were right and clear," Bishop Chihana said. "There is no need for government to be antagonistic towards the Church. It's imperative that government listens carefully and take appropriate steps to rectify their mistakes."

Bishop Chihana said there was no freedom in any democratic nation without checks and balances.

He said the Church would continue to speak out whenever things were wrong in the country because it was the institution's duty to put things right.

On Lt Gen Shikapwasha's sentiments that it was a shame that the Catholic Church would advocate food packs to be dished out to able-bodied people instead of assisting them with inputs to enable them grow enough food, Bishop Chihana said the Church had the responsibility to take care of the poor through various ways.

Bishop Chihana said it was unfortunate that Lt Gen Shikapwasha could issue such a wrong statement instead of working hand-in-hand with the Church to help uplift the lives of the majority poor people across the country.

"There is animosity and tension in the country because of many wrong things and it is important that the Church, other stakeholders and the government work together and encourage each other to reduce this tension," said Bishop Chihana.

On Thursday, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said there was no basis for the Catholic Bishop to suggest that the incidence of corruption and abuse of office had increased only in the last four months.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha also observed that although the Catholic Church might not like the government's economic programmes aimed at addressing the current economic situation, it was not correct to suggest there was no clear strategy or gains made so far were being lost because of the new government.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha's remarks came in the wake of the Bishops' Pastoral Letter in which they called for integrity, saying corruption in society had become endemic and it must not be allowed to continue.

Labels: MMD, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA, SIMON CHIHANA

posted by MrK @ 10:30 AM