Zambians want to benefit from change - Rev Matale
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Wed 04 Apr. 2012, 12:57 CAT
THE PF government must expedite the process of implementing its developmental policies because Zambians want to start seeing the benefits of changing government, says Reverend Susan Matale.
In an interview after gracing the Palm Sunday celebrations in Chililabombwe, Rev Matale who is the secretary general of the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) said people were tired of poverty, unemployment and poor health service delivery.
Rev Matale said poverty and lack of good public infrastructure were the greatest challenges facing the country and leaders must begin to demonstrate the much-needed political will in addressing them.
She said the advocacy of the Council of Churches of Zambia had always been that the government must put in place a good tax regime where investors in the mines would contribute fairly to the national treasury.
Rev Matale said Zambians were in a hurry to see change and the government could not afford to procrastinate in terms of delivery of its promises.
She said the hope of many people, especially the youths on the Copperbelt, was that government would begin to take pragmatic steps to ensure that foreign investment in the mining sector the country had continued to attract would translate into more jobs and equal pay for the locals.
"I don't see how we can make Zambia a better place for all if we have people unemployed, chronic poverty at household level and deplorable infrastructure such as the roads like the situation is in Chingola and Chililabombwe," Matale said.
She said the idleness of young people in districts such as Chililabombwe on the Copperbelt required addressing through job creation.
She said the opening up of mines was not helping the situation as there were very few jobs that had been filled by the locals.
"The people of Zambia are not counting the months but the immediate delivery of services as promised by the PF when they were in the opposition. They were promised 90 days and after that period the people are still anxious about when they would start seeing development," Matale said.
She said the PF government had a task of being in a hurry as many poor Zambians were looking up to the government to improve their situation.
Rev Matale said the church took comfort in the fact that President Michael Sata had pledged to work hard to implement a strategy to end poverty and provide a conducive atmosphere for human integral development.
"The rhetoric that people have to wait should not be the language. People have been waiting since the late Frederick Chiluba's administration when we were told to tighten our belts. Zambia does not deserve to be a country of poor people because it is very rich in terms of natural," Matale said.
Labels: CCZ, CHILILABOMBWE, POVERTY, SUSAN MATALE
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‘Seeking justice for all’
By The Post
Thu 18 Feb. 2010, 04:00 CAT
IN reading the pastoral letter on the state of the nation issued by the Council of Churches in Zambia on Tuesday, we feel the Church has both the right and duty to participate fully in building a just and peaceful society with all the means at its disposal.
We say this because the promotion of justice and true peace is an expression of Christian faith in love that God has for every human being. And a Church is not fully rooted among its people if it does not try to establish justice. It is said that “faith of itself, if it does not have works is dead” (Jas. 2:17).
And we are again reminded of this in Luke 11:42-46 : “ ‘How terrible for you Pharisees! You give to God one tenth of the seasoning herbs, such as mint and rue and all the other herbs, but you neglect justice and love for God. These you should practice, without neglecting others.
How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the reserved seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the market places. How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without knowing it.’ One of the teachers of the law said to Him, ‘Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too!’ Jesus answered, ‘How terrible also for you teachers of the Law! You put on to people’s backs loads which are hard to carry, but you yourselves will not stretch out a finger to help them carry those loads.’ ”
Clearly, a faith and a life which are authentically Christian cannot fail to blossom in a love which constitutes truth and promotes justice. True faith touches on our beliefs, feelings and actions, our head, heart and hand.
It is in this spirit that we respond to the Council of Churches in Zambia’s call to the Zambian people to carefully consider the issues raised in their pastoral reflection and act on them.
And as they have correctly pointed out, we also see their mandate as that of being “a prophetic voice with a transformative impact on Church and society for the propagation of Christian values and human dignity”. And truly, “this mandate is motivated and inspired by the word of God in seeking justice for all” (Prov. 31:8-9).
From the Council of Churches in Zambia’s pastoral letter, it is clear that the Church values the democratic system in as much as it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate.
It is also clear that the main Christian churches in our country are speaking the same language. The language being used by the Council of Churches in Zambia to describe the state of the nation is not different from that of the Zambia Episcopal Conference.
The only Christian churches speaking a different language are those created for the business and political purposes of their owners. These are the only ones defending the status quo, the wrongdoings of the powerful.
The Council of Churches in Zambia in its pastoral letter observes that “since 1991, Zambia has embraced a democratic system of government, that is, a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
This entails that the people’s aspirations are to be determined by themselves. Therefore, this calls for principles of equal participation and freedom of expression to be enhanced. However, almost 20 years down the road, the Church has observed that there has been a departure from the democratic principles to a non tolerant culture.
The objectives and aspirations of the 1990s have died down. The governance situation does not promote equal participation and justice for the ordinary citizens as only a few elite are the beneficiaries”.
Their definition of democracy is that of Lincoln. For us, democracy means that governments are closely linked to the people, arise from the people, have the support of the people and devote themselves entirely to working and struggling for the people and the people’s interests.
Democracy implies the defence of all the rights of citizens, including the right to dignity and honour. For us, democracy means fraternity and true equality among men and women and equal opportunities for all men and women, for every human being who is born.
And the democracy that is being practiced in this country today does not contain any of these elements. How can we talk of democracy in a country where a minority has immense fortunes acquired from or through the state and others have nothing?
What kind of equality or fraternity can exist between a beggar and a millionaire or billionaire? What rights do the poor have in this country that we have decreed a Christian nation?
What we have done is to establish a system of domination with all the resources of wealth and everything else in the hands of a group that maintains discrimination, marginalisation and excludes the rest of society from any real participation and from any real possibility of exercising their rights. Those of our people who don’t have resources can’t set themselves any political goals, because they are excluded.
Truly, the Council of Churches in Zambia is right in saying that there has been a departure from the democratic principles of 1991 and the objectives and aspirations of the 1990s have died down. Probably this is why those who were opposed to multiparty democracy and saw it as Stone Age politics; those who were opposed to the Movement for Multiparty Democracy today are at the helm of it. What can one truthfully expect from such people in terms of advancing multiparty democracy?
But this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a good place for all of us to live in. it’s not enough to sloganeer about peace and reconciliation in the nation when we should all know very well that reconciliation comes only from the hearts of people.
Therefore, let’s look into our hearts, and let us look down into the faces of our children. Is there anything in the world that should stand in their way? None of the evil practices that we see in this country today mean anything when you look down into the faces of our children. In their faces we should see hope and not despair, our love and not hatred, and our courage and not fear.
Let’s honour the meaning of our Church. We can, somehow, by God’s grace, turn this around. We can give these children a future. We can take away their despair and give them hope by ensuring that the resources of our country don’t go to benefit just a few.
What this pastoral letter is teaching us is that by our daily deeds as ordinary Zambians we should strive to produce an actual Zambian reality that will enforce our belief in justice, strengthen our confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.
This pastoral letter seems to be rooted in the understanding that the individual does best in a strong and decent community of people with principles and standards and common aims and values. Leaders lead, but in the end the people govern.
What this pastoral letter is telling us is that politics is not a dirty game but is a genuine way of being at the service of others for the integral development of the country. Yes, every political party and individual candidate has the right to campaign for next year’s elections but they should do so with integrity, truth, justice and fairness. They should win not because their competitors are despised, but because they are understood, supported and trusted.
There is no choice between being principled and unelectable; and electable and principled. People should win because of what they believe in.
We want a nation of tolerance, innovation and creativity. We want a nation with an innate sense of fair play. Let us strive to build a nation with pride in itself; a thriving nation, rich in economic prosperity, secure in social justice, confident in political change; a land in which our children can bring up their children with a future to look forward to.
That should be our hope – the hope of our Church. Not just to promise democracy and good governance – but to achieve it. To achieve this, we need our Church to continue to be the conscience of our nation, a moral custodian and a fearless champion of the weak and downtrodden. And as we have stated before, the simple lesson of religions, of all philosophies and of life itself is that, although evil may be on the rampage temporarily, the good must win the laurels in the end.
Labels: CCZ, SUSAN MATALE
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Govt has departed from democratic principles – CCZ
By Sandra Mulowa
Thu 18 Feb. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has observed that there has been a departure from democratic principles to a non-tolerant culture. And the CCZ has said the performance of the judicial system in Zambia leaves much to be desired.
CCZ general secretary reverend Susan Matale on Tuesday said since 1991 Zambia had embraced a democratic system of government, a government for the people, by the people and for the people which entailed that the people's aspirations were to be determined by themselves and calls for the principles of equal participation and freedom of expression to be enhanced. She said the objectives and aspirations of the 1990's had died down.
Rev Matale said the governance system did not promote equal participation and justice for the ordinary citizens, as only a few elite were the beneficiaries. She said many accused persons spent unrealistically longer periods in detention awaiting trial and time taken to conclude court cases could not go without comment.
Rev Matale said this was injustice and an infringement of one's right to freedom and fair trail. She called upon the government to comprehensively review the country's judicial system so as to enable the speedy delivery of a fair trail for all.
"It has been noticed that the rich, the powerful and famous appear to be above the law and go scot-free while the poor languish in prisons," Rev Matele said.
She said as next year's tripartite elections approached and various political parties were preparing to launch their pre-elections campaigns, it was prudent that the same were held in free, fair and transparent manner.
"It is therefore the duty of all patriotic Zambians to conduct themselves in a matter that ensures that the campaigns and elections are held under a fair and violence free environment," she said.
"However, the country is now experiencing a time of severe moral degradation as can be seen from the unpalatable language that our politicians are using against each other."
Rev Matale observed that insults, name-calling and character assassination had become the norm of the day as the country draws towards the polls. She said the language being used was not only unacceptable but also a bad precedent for children.
Rev Matale said CCZ condemned any acts by any person or institution that undermined the holding of elections in a free and peaceful atmosphere.
"Whereas we call upon members to turn up in large numbers to register as voters in the voter registration exercise which starts in June 2010, we beseech all political parties to avoid politicizing the exercise," she said.
Rev Matale called upon the Zambia Police Service and other law enforcement agencies to exhibit traits of impartiality in the execution of their duties during this period up to the polls.
She also called on the media to be ethical and offer a balanced reporting of events leading to the polls so as to accord every Zambian the right to information.
Rev Matale said despite the government in the last ten years championing the message of zero tolerance to corruption, corruption remained rampant, especially in government institutions where colossal sums of money continue to be pocketed by a few individuals.
"This act not only deprives the country of the much needed revenue but has also resulted in reduced service provision and deteriorating living conditions for the majority of Zambians especially those living in densely populated rural areas. Corruption is the greatest enemy to the country's development. Government needs to scale up their corruption prevention programmes," she said.
Rev Matale said Zambia had continued to experience deteriorating and alarming poverty levels despite the country recording significant economic improvements such as the attainment of the single digit inflation rate and the six percent economic growth.
"This is as a result of unequal distribution of resources from the purported economic gains, misplaced priorities, wastefulness, greed and corruption on the part of those in authority and the continued development of policies that favor the investors and outsiders at the expense of the ordinary citizens," she said.
"Poverty is not only a demeaning state of humanity but also undermines the citizens capacity to participate in the country's agenda. Poverty deprives the people of God-given ability of free will as their bargaining power is weakened."
Rev Matale said poverty had been a recipe for corruption, increased crime rates and accounted for the majority of electoral malpractices during elections where people exchange their right to choose for money and other material things.
Labels: CCZ, POLITICS, SUSAN MATALE
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Presidential candidates have failed to articulate issues - Rev Matale
Sunday, October 26, 2008 10:30:03 PM
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
COUNCIL of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) secretary general Reverend Suzanne Matale has said the church is not satisfied with issues being articulated by presidential candidates in their campaign for this Thursday’s election.
And Rev Matale has said it is sad that women still have to carry buckets of water on their heads in the 20th century.
In an interview, Rev Matale said so far as had been seen, there was lot of mudslinging, insults and unclear visions. Rev Matale said it was not too late as the politicians still had time to redeem themselves.
"They can give us strategies of what they can do for this country and this, we are not hearing any concrete sense," Rev Matale said.
Rev Matale also encouraged voters to use their right to vote because Zambians were not interested in governments which come into power through corruption.
She said people should freely vote for a person who can articulate issues.
"We are encouraging every voter to go and vote on October, 30 so that they can vote in a president of their choice, voted on their own conscious thinking on what they have heard and seen," she said.
And Rev Matale said the church had high expectations of the incoming government in putting people’s interests first.
"Like we have said year after year and government after government, that the responsibility of a government is to protect and take care of its people and therefore the government that must come into power must first of all prioritise the poverty issues we have in the country.
That is number one priority. We want people to live dignified lives, so creation of employment is a priority, provision of services is a priority for example starting from water shortages, women still have to carry buckets of water in the 20th century on their heads," she said.
She said Zambia needed a government that had compassion for its people.
Rev Matale said the church was looking at a government as servants of the people and not the other way round.
"So my appeal to the new government is that as soon as they get into the office, they should begin to see how they are going to lift the standards of the people and how they are going to provide services, hospitals clinics and education,” said Rev Matale.
Labels: CCZ, ELECTIONS, POLITICS, SUSAN MATALE
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Matale urges MMD at NCC to respect majority's views
By Lambwe Kachali
Friday July 25, 2008 [04:00]
COUNCIL of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) general secretary Reverend Susan Matale has urged government ministers and MMD members at the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) committee sittings to respect the views of the majority in reaching consensus. Commenting on the action by Luapula Province minister Chrispin Musosha, health deputy minister Dr Lwipa Puma and home affairs deputy minister Grace Njapau who victimised and accused NCC democratic governance committee chairperson Stanley Mhango of being biased on Wednesday, Rev Matale said in every election or dialogue, the majority carried the day.
Rev Matale said members at the conference should seriously discuss and make the right decisions on issues, as failure to do so would have a negative impact on the constitution.
She said matters relating to elections required consensus because elections were part of governance.
Rev Matale said the behaviour exhibited by the three government ministers was a clear indication that they had gone to the conference with hidden agendas.
She said stakeholders who refused to participate in the NCC because of government in-built majority were slowly being vindicated. Rev Matale said with the presence of such ministers, it would be impossible for the NCC to produce a constitution that would serve the interests of the nation.
"What we said that NCC is tilted towards government and politicians has now started to show. We know that when it comes to voting in the conference, MMD officials will vote for the obvious in order to protect their interest and that of government and not the interest of the people of Zambia," Rev Matale said. "My suspicion is that at the end of the process, we may have a document that will not embrace the nation."
She said if government ministers and other MMD officials continued to behave in such a manner, the conference would be faced with many problems.
"Because it is not the first time MMD ministers and other officials have strongly opposed the decisions that the majority has agreed to," she said.
Rev Matale said the Secretary to the Cabinet was the right person to constitute the ad hoc committee that would be tasked with the responsibility to recruit and select members of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), saying there were numerous calls from Zambians to reduce the powers of the President for the sake of efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in the commission.
"If they refuse the Secretary to the Cabinet, then they should choose a group of people or any institution but not the President. As a country, we need to have redistribution of power," said Rev Matale.
On Wednesday, Musosha, Dr Puma, Njapau and Eastern Province minister Charles Shawa strongly opposed the majority decision to change Article 104 (1) of the Mung'omba Draft Constitution, which gives powers to the President to constitute an ad hoc committee that selects members of the commission.
However, when the majority committee members settled on the Secretary to the Cabinet and Mhango ruled in their favour, the three ministers accused him of being biased.
Musosha said he was ready to be disciplined by Mhango over the committee's resolution that the Secretary to the Cabinet should constitute an ad hoc committee to recruit and select persons to serve as commissioners of the ECZ.
The matter was then, for a second time, differed to a later date.
Labels: CCZ, MMD, NCC, SUSAN MATALE
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