Mulafulafu foresees increased tension between state, church
Mulafulafu foresees increased tension between state, churchBy George Chellah
Tue 12 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THERE will be growing tension between the state and the church in 2010, Caritas Zambia executive director Sam Mulafulafu has observed.
Giving his reflections, Mulafulafu noted that politicians would continue to use the same language against the church.
“Reflecting on the attitude of the State towards the Church in 2009, it is very easy to anticipate that there will be growing tension between the two bodies in 2010, especially, with the narrowing proximity towards the 2011 Presidential and general elections. The usual language from politicians directed at the church will become more and more frequent; concentrate on preaching the word of God; remove the church from politics; come out in the open; pray for the nation etc.
At the height of governance and economic crisis in the late eighties, the then president, Dr Kenneth Kaunda challenged church leaders, who were getting more critical about his rule, to pray for the economic recovery of the nation and offer more practical solutions to the problems facing the nation,” Mulafulafu stated. “The church leaders responded by stating that as church leaders, they are not professional economists or policy advisors but are duty bound to interrogate economic policies and practices from the Christian perspective (Christian Liberation Justice and Development, 1987).
The trend to question the authenticity of the church’s voice on governance has continued even with greater vigour in the post 1990 era. For instance, in 1992 when the Catholic Bishops published the pastoral letter ‘Hear the Cry of Poor,’ questioning the lack of sensitivity in the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme to the plight of the majority poor, the church was immediately challenged by politicians (the head of state) to offer alternatives.
“What political leaders conveniently choose to ignore is the fact that whereas the moral voice of the church is always professionally informed, the church speaks more from its day-to-day contact with the people; it speaks the reality of the people as witnessed in daily lives and struggles. This in most cases is at variance with what is deduced from statistics. It is the reality of each individual the church meets.”
He stated that all the church does was voicing the plight of the people to their government who should be better positioned in terms of capacity to respond to these needs.
“At the close of 2009, the Central Statistical Office announced impressive statistics indicating marked improvement in the economy; one digit inflation rate of 9.9 per cent, above six per cent economic growth rate!! Well and good but how has this impacted on the quality of lives of people especially the poor in 2009? Has there been increased access to affordable and quality health care? Has there been increased access to quality education?
Has there been an increase in quality job opportunities? Has there been access to income and good social security? If all these questions are in the negative, then those statistical achievements remain abstract to many Zambians,” Mulafulafu stated.
“This is what the church has always reminded government about but instead of appreciating these reminders, government accuses the church of inciting the masses or working with the opposition to undermine a “legitimately elected government.” What causes this fear of the unknown on the part of government is difficult to fathom and it always makes government spend valuable time fighting imaginary enemies at the expense of addressing the real developmental needs of the people.”
He stated that the acrimony of any sitting government towards a major church body had never been demonstrated like the case was last year.
“… When government accused the Catholic Church of planning genocide in Zambia like it did in Rwanda in 1994. The accusation was delivered through a ministerial presentation to Parliament by the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Mr Ronnie Shikapwasha. The fact that this position has never been recanted or repudiated by anybody from the State and was issued on the official floor of Parliament clearly makes it a government official position.
For a church that has spent all its time preaching and promoting love and justice, there can be nothing more hurting. Hurting even more is when one knows that the accusations are all lies, willfully orchestrated to hurt those who profess the Catholic faith,” Mulafulafu stated.
“This is a religious insult that should have caused a genuine uprising against government by the Catholic community in Zambia. However, in true spirit of ‘turning the other cheek’ there were only a handful of condemnation statements in the media and perhaps a letter of protest from the church authorities but we all know that there will be and should be pay back time for Mr Shikapwasha and his accomplices.
In the last quarter of 2009, the President of the Zambia Episcopal Conference, Bishop George Lungu was quoted lamenting that the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state has never been as low as it was then. This was a strong statement coming from a leader of one of the most influential non-state actors in the affairs of the Zambian society. What is even of greater worry is the fact that the statement articulated the correct status of the relationship between church and state in most of 2009 and even going into 2010.”
He warned that the ruling party would ignore these sentiments at their own peril.
“The acrimony of the State towards the Catholic Church was heightened after publication of the Pastoral Letter, “A Call to Integrity” by the Catholic Bishops in May 2009. In this pastoral letter, the Bishops made a review of the “State of the Nation” since the 2008 Presidential by elections and made the observation that Zambia is at a threshold of a looming crisis due to among others growing poverty levels, corruption and abuse of public office and a futile constitution making process.
Since the publication of this pastoral letter, we have seen increased hostility towards the Catholic Church in particular, by national political and other public leaders and yet the truth in the letter is glaringly there for all to see,” Mulafulafu stated. “We have a government that has become tolerant with corruption, that is indifferent from the plight of the poor and suffering if they are not related to influential people in the ruling party and that uses public resources not for the common good but for excessive lifestyles of those in political leadership.
How can the church stand by in the face of all this and still in good conscience believe that it is still serving the mission of Christ? On Tuesday 29 December 2009, there were celebrations by a few Christians to mark the 18th anniversary of the declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation; a declaration shoved on our throats by Mr Chiluba and his then political cronies on 29th December 1991.
“I am sure if Mr Chiluba got his way on his bid to be perpetually in office; 29th December may have already been added to the list of Zambia’s myriad of holidays. Commenting on the declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation, the Catholic Bishops observed that: “… a nation is not Christian by declaration but by deeds.
Zambia can be Christian Nation only if Zambian Christians follow Jesus in a life of love and respect for one another, a life of dedication, honesty and hard work… It will be in the deeds of justice and concern for the poor that we will show the Christian character of our nation.” (The Future is Ours, Feb 1992). The observation could not have been more prophetic.”
He explained that the declaration turned out to be dubious as the regime that made it turned out to be the most corrupt ever experienced in Zambian history.
“It stole resources from the poor for the benefit of a small clique of accomplices. Whereas the majority of Zambians were degenerating into extreme poverty, Mr Chiluba and those around him accumulated dubious wealth, a reason for which he and others were being prosecuted after his presidency. He also presided over a regime full of impunity; manipulating constitution making process, incarcerating political opponents, including his predecessor, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, stifling media freedom and initiating the infamous NGO bill which his current surrogate has passed into law.
The “slush fund” was introduced to buy patronage from groups and individuals and sadly, the church was major beneficiary of this fund which sowed the seed of division still visible today,” Mulafulafu stated. “The church leaders who wined and dined with Mr Chiluba and had even their Synagogues built from the slush fund have always refused to see the injustice and sin against the poor in Mr Chiluba’s government precisely because Mr Chiluba claimed to be their “Brother” and Zambia is a Christian Nation.
This was intended to and has worked to undermine the credibility of the church. The unprecedented proliferation of churches during Mr Chiluba’s rule did nothing to improve the moral standing of Zambia; if anything, the opposite is the case. This is the Christian Nation we have known and only those with very short memories can celebrate it.”
He stated that in the most dramatic turn of events, Chiluba was acquitted and cleared of all charges.
“The beneficiaries of the slush fund during his reign regrouped and organised celebrations. The ruling MMD also organised celebrations, the President, Cabinet ministers expressed happiness with the ruling and even attempted to project their personal feelings on the case as national feelings. On the other hand, the aggrieved citizens from whom resources were stolen were neither allowed to protest or appeal the judgment,” Mulafulafu stated.
“The action of Caritas Zambia and the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection to be part of the public organised expression of displeasure over the judgment and the subsequent behavior by government was singled out to be yet another Catholic maneouvre to unseat government. The behaviour of government on the Chiluba case and the Dora Siliya case clearly exposed the new attitude of tolerating and encouraging corruption.”
He stated that the church should not be cowed and should play its rightful role in promoting good governance.
“The roots of many social problems that the church has to deal with among the people are in national policies and some of the governance practices,” he stated.
Labels: GOVERNANCE, SAM MULAFULAFU
posted by MrK @ 7:38 AM
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