Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu fought a good fight
By Sishuwa Sishuwa
Every country has, at one time or another, a religious leader who acts as the conscience of the nation and with the strength of conviction that is respected even by their fiercest critics.
For Zambia, and since the deaths of Cardinal Medardo Joseph Mazombwe (2013), Bishop Paul Francis Duffy (2011), and Bishop Dennis Harold De Jong (2003), that honour belonged to Emeritus Archbishop of Lusaka Telesphore George Mpundu.
A dignified and consistent advocate for justice, the 78-year-old was among a very small number of the Zambian clergy who are incapable of finding peace in an environment in which human suffering is manufactured by the politicians in power. Throughout his public life, Mpundu consistently raised both his voice and the quality of his argument to speak out against human rights violations, corruption in government, attacks on democracy, intentional polarisation, and the indifference of the country’s political leadership to the plight of many. It is as if he was spurred by the knowledge that to be silent in the face of these human-made sins is to actively participate in sustaining the status quo.
In addition to bearing sympathy for the elites in power who found his ability to speak out on issues of public interest unbearable, the man of God refused to be bullied into silence by successive governing parties’ familiar tactic of accusing anyone who criticises the government, however well intentioned, of being an opposition supporter.
A highly courageous and principled individual, Archbishop Mpundu served as an inspiring example of the kind of clergy Zambia or Africa needs – those with a deep sense of responsibility and a conscience that is restless in the face of injustice, bad governance, human rights violations and the degrading poverty that surrounds them.
Archbishop Mpundu fought a good fight.