🇿🇲 POWER FIGURES | Archbishop Alick Banda: The Priest at the Centre of Zambia’s Political Firestorm
Archbishop Alick Banda has stepped into Zambia’s constitutional clash with the authority of a senior cleric and the aggression of a hardened political operator. His warnings of “strife, blood bath, and destruction of innocent lives” have electrified national debate. To some he is a prophetic voice confronting state excess. To others he is a partisan actor in holy robes, prosecuting old battles on behalf of a defeated political elite.
As tensions rise, Banda now stands as one of the most polarising figures in the country.
Born in 1963 in Mufulira, trained in Zambian seminaries and armed with a PhD in Canon Law from Germany, Banda’s ascent through the Catholic hierarchy has been disciplined and deliberate. He served in Ndola after his 1994 ordination, rose to Bishop of Solwezi in 2007, Bishop of Ndola in 2009, and Archbishop of Lusaka in 2018.
He holds one of the most influential pulpits in the nation and commands a constituency that spans parishes, seminaries and national Catholic institutions.
Inside the Church, he is regarded as a strict canon lawyer with a reputation for rigid administration. His homilies often cut through national issues such as corruption, poverty and truth-telling. His defenders portray him as a courageous cleric who refuses to dilute the Gospel in the face of political power.
They say he calls out injustice without fear and challenges leaders of every stripe.
But the image outside the Church is more contested. Observers note that Banda’s public tone since 2020 mirrors political narratives aligned with the Patriotic Front. His cordial ties with former president Edgar Lungu became visible. His name surfaced frequently in partisan disputes. In 2023 an audio attributed to the UPND Secretary-General referred to him as “the Lucifer of Zambia,” a comment that exposed the depth of political suspicion surrounding him.
A legal complaint followed and the episode cemented his place as a cleric whose homilies carry direct political weight.
The most damaging scandal was the Toyota Hilux registered as ALF 7734. In 2024 the Drug Enforcement Commission seized the vehicle, citing irregular acquisition linked to the PF era. Media reports suggested it began as a Zambia Revenue Authority vehicle before being transferred to him. He was never charged. His allies branded the action political persecution. Governance activists said it demonstrated unhealthy intimacy between a bishop and a ruling party that had normalised graft.
Laura Miti called it a “sobering lesson” on the fragility of moral authority when public gifts blur ethical boundaries.
Then came the funeral dispute of former president Edgar Lungu in June 2025. Banda travelled to Johannesburg to lead the burial service planned by the Lungu family, outside state oversight. Hours before the burial, the Pretoria High Court halted the ceremony and later ordered the body repatriated to Zambia. Footage of Banda arriving at the Johannesburg venue beside senior PF figures sent shockwaves across the political spectrum. Supporters saw pastoral duty.
Critics saw a cleric inserting himself into a constitutional confrontation between the State and the Lungu household at the height of national tension.
Now, with Bill 7 locked in a national stalemate, Banda’s voice has become a trigger point. His recent homilies accuse government of “degeneration of democracy.” The Archdiocese of Lusaka’s latest statement calls Bill 7 “reckless political experimentation” and warns that “Zambia’s stability and wellbeing is too important for such dangerous proposals.”
The statement urges Catholics to join demonstrations “from Freedom Statue to State House,” signalling the most direct clerical mobilisation against a sitting president in recent memory.
The timing is explosive. Oasis Forum has agreed to meet President Hichilema for dialogue on Friday. The President has warned that “the church has become a host of negative talk and hatred.” Bishops in Kasama and Mpika have told priests to “fearlessly speak the truth.” The Archdiocese of Lusaka has now reignited confrontation.
The sequence of events places Banda at the epicentre of an escalation with unpredictable consequences.
Archbishop Alick Banda is no longer a background cleric. He is a power broker whose words move crowds, embolden opposition figures and provoke reactions from State House. His supporters call him a moral compass. His critics call him a political actor in a pulpit.
What is clear is that his voice has become one of the most charged instruments in Zambia’s unfolding constitutional hurricane.
© The People’s Brief | Editors
If he was a man of such disciplines why accept a car that was not proper cleared, his were he is for silver. Even his support from other political players for silver.
Time is constant and God is fair. Let’s see who wins at the end of the day. The Catholic church is for human beings, it’s leaders too are human like anyone else created in the same image of God. No one has the monopoly of Gods’ fairness. Alick’s agenda is a personal one. He must not use the church to fight his battles. Imagine if HH used his powers as president to fight him his skeletons can be unveiled. He just just human too, no wonder the biases. Hate is a slow constrictor.
Was the “gift” of a 4×4 Toyota Hilux motor vehicle from the Zambia Revenue Authority in his personal name in accord with Catholic Church policy? I understand that Catholic priests working as school teachers, medical doctors and university lecturers surrender all their pay to the church because their needs are taken care of centrally.
From what we read, it was a land cruiser for him personally and another one for the church. The one for the church was not confiscated. The man organised a memorial for Sata, in conjunction with PF in defiance of the state. Let us not confuse things by taking individuals as the church. These chaps do all the dirty things, and when their ways are blocked, you are playing with fire?
Let him burry ecl first
Then he can match to State House alone
Give the man enough rope to hang himself. Let him proceed with the protest.
So much acrimony all in the name of God. How we misuse the name of God! But then God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
It reminds me of Bob Dylan’s song “God on their side”.
Headline should have read ” alick banda- PF cadre in priestly robes.”
This man’s obsession with bringing back PF to power is terrifying. Why has the Catholic Church allowed him to campaign for a rogue party using the Church ‘s name?