Catholic church didn’t say no to Bill 7, it’s individuals – SME minister
SMALL and Medium Enterprise Development minister Elias Mubanga says the notion that the Catholic Church spoke against the passing of Bill 7 is wrong because according to him, it’s not the church that were against the proposed law but selected individuals.
Yesterday, Bill 7 passed both the Second and Third Readings, with all 135 Members of Parliament present voting in favour of the Bill at Third Reading.
The results from both the second and third readings met the constitutional two-thirds threshold.
Earlier, the Bill had passed Second Reading stage with 131 MPs voting in support, two voting against and none abstaining.
The Bill now awaits the President’s assent to become law.
Speaking shortly after the passing of the Bill at the National Assembly yesterday, Mubanga said the Catholic Church should not be dragged in the mud as the views of the those that were speaking against the Bill did not represent the views of the entire church as a whole.
He said even pastors and bishops from other churches that were voicing out their concerns, did so in their own capacities and their views did not represent their churches.
“We have some individuals from the Catholic Church who spoke against the Bill, people from the Pentecostal Church, they spoke against the Bill. It’s individual members. The issue of saying the church said no to Bill 7 is wrong. It’s just few members of the church that said no and that should not be married with the church,” he said.
Mubanga said the passing of Bill 7 also shows Zambians that no matter how vocal they may be, it is only parliament that makes laws after consultations.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, December 16, 2025
Why are you speaking for them? They can speak for themselves. They already know that Alick Banda is a problem, and the church leadership can handle it. Otherwise, Frank Bwalya clearly addressed the issue long before the vote on the bill took place.