Govt should listen to critical voice of clergy, says Rev Siwila

Govt should listen to critical voice of clergy, says Rev Siwila
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe and Agness Changala in Lusaka
Sun 28 Feb. 2010, 03:20 CAT

KITWE’S United Church of Zambia Kwacha East Congregation Reverend Teddy Siwila has said President Rupiah Banda’s government must be able to listen to the critical voice of the clergy and various stakeholders if the country is to attain meaningful development.

In an interview on Friday, Rev. Siwila observed that the alarming levels of corruption, adverse poverty and inept governance system were due to government’s failure to listen to critical voices that want to see government business handled in a proper and transparent manner.

He said posterity would judge people holding government power harshly if they failed to fight corruption and abuse of authority by those in public service.

Rev Siwila has said politicians should not issue unwarranted attacks on the Church for speaking out on matters of governance because their vocation is to speak out on matters that affect God’s people.

“It’s very disappointing to see how clergymen are being scandalised by politicians when they genuinely speak on issues that affect the people.

You cannot draw a line between the Church and politics because what happens in the political arena affects the people. We will continue to denounce evil activities and challenge those in power to promote common good; that’s our role as the Church,” Rev Siwila said.

He said it would be difficult for the current government to address various challenges the majority poor were facing if it was not ready to listen to criticism and to embrace the critical voice of the Church that always spoke for the voiceless.

He further said there was need for politicians both in the ruling and opposition political parties to embrace tolerance and handle politics in an atmosphere of love and unity adding that the plight of the poor must be an ultimate focus of every leader and not State House.

Rev Siwila observed that there was a growing hostility among politicians because of intolerance in the political arena and the failure to accept constructive criticism by those in leadership positions.

“Those who seek political office must be able to embrace criticism because that’s what moves the country forward. Unfortunately everything is being tailored out of greediness by the minority few who are in decision-making positions such that they don’t want to listen to critical views. We need to change this attitude if the country is to see meaningful development,” said Rev Silwila.

And Catholic priest Fr Spencer Nyendwa has said observations made by the Catholics on issues that affect people should not be ignored.

In an interview yesterday, Fr Nyendwa who is also Monze Diocese development advocacy officer said there was no doubt that the Catholic Church was key and critical here in Zambia and therefore, they should not be ignored.

Fr Nyendwa said priests spoke facts and what was on the ground.

He said he did not know of any priest who had insulted except that what they spoke about were things happening on the ground and by so doing, provided checks and balances.

Fr Nyendwa said most sentiments made by his colleagues and many other people in society were as a result of being frustrated because they had talked about certain issues several times without seeing any changes.

“People are frustrated because how many times are they going to talk about certain things without seeing any changes?” he asked.

And Fr Nyendwa said the councils being run by the opposition was no excuse for the government not to take responsibility as others would just compliment their efforts.

He said it was also the government’s responsibility to ensure that Lusaka and many other places affected by floods were taken care of.