Chris Zumani Petition To Excommunicate Elder HH: SDA Church Must Show God’s Righteousness, Integrity & Discipline

Citizen petition to excommunicate elder HH: SDA church must show God’s righteousness, integrity & discipline

By Chris ZUMANI Zimba

In a democracy like ours, citizens are free to petition leaders in government and non governmental organizations for specific actions on different issues affecting them. It is in this democratic spirit that, this public or citizen petition with eighteen(18) reasons has been compiled and now submitted to the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church leadership for them to constitute a disciplinary committee and excommunicate, not suspend elder Hikainde Hichilema (HH) if they desire to remain a respected body of Jesus Christ in Zambia. Below are the 18 grounds among many others:

1. HH is an forgiving soul, a man who habours bitterness and anger for eternity. Anointed pastors, senior citizens, scholars, politicians, voters, etc have advised him to forgive and reconcile with Edgar Lungu, but HH’s heart has totally refused. He has consulted all living Vice Presidents-Enock Kavindele, Nevers Mumba, Godfrey Miyanda and Guy Scot. But his eternal bitterness and passionate hatred towards Edgar Lungu has made HH fail to engage, visit or consult ECL for three years now. At the mention of the name Lungu, HH’s heart boils with Namwala fire. So, how does the SDA keep such unforgiving people as their church elders? Read Matthew 6:14-15;

2. Gilbert Liswaniso, UPND and HH’s National Youth Chairman even challenged our president to show Christian love, grace, humbleness and consult ECL on how to govern Zambia and improve the lives of our people. But our bitter and angry HH takes Lungu for everlasting personal enemy. With such evidence of satanic bitterness and eternal hatred for fellow man, why is the SDA church still hosting HH as their anointed member and oiling him as their trusted church elder? This is where modern churches become good for nothing outfits. Read Ephesians 5 11;

3. The SDA church knows that their “elder”, HH has officially entered into the Zambian Book of “Unstoppable Political Lies and Cheating your into State House”. Apart from Adolf Hitler, HH could be the second president who dangerously lied big into power and gravely cheated his voters without shame, regret or apology. HH promised paradise, HH has delivered hot air and empty balloons. And each day, HH is still making false promises and butterfly lies without shame, phobia or remorse. So, how can a noble church keep such a person as their “Elder” or “Deacon”? Read Titus 1:7-14; Jeremiah 9:6; 1 Peter2:1;

4. HH is a political betrayer by nature and conduct. Look at how he betrayed the Litunga, the Kuta and the Lozi people? Between 2006 and 2022, HH proclaimed Barotseland as a real ancient Kingdom of the Lozi people in Zambia. In 2022, he is on video saying: “there is nothing wrong to call Western province as Barotseland”. Today in 2024, he openly denounced any existence of a place called Barotseland in Zambia. How can a Zambian President denounce the existence of Ngoni Land, Bembaland, Chewaland, Lenje land, Tonga land, Baluvale Land, Tumbuka land, Lambaland or Soli land in Zambia? The ethnic political fire HH has ignited is too big for the SDA to still keep him as church elder;

5. Even HH’s close political allies like Mr. Clement Sinyinda resigned on 05/02/2024 as Vice Chairperson for the Teaching Service Commission due to Bally’s betrayal and disrespectful comments on Barotseland. So, how can the SDA keep HH as their church elder when Bally is betraying ethnic groups, fueling regional tensions and causing tribal divisions in this manner? While Barotseland is not a country or sovereign state indeed, Barotseland is a real ancient kingdom of the Lozi people. Read Proverbs 22:28;

6. HH appointed and pays millions of dollars to gay and lesbian champions as his personal foreign advisors at State House. Out of all experts across Zambia, Africa and the world, HH has made Tony Blair and his firm, globally renowned for promoting liberalism, gay and lesbian rights as his closest foreign advisors for Zambians. And why is his SDA church so softly mute about HH’s close association with Tony Blair at State House? Does the SDA endorse their church elders and deacons to closely and openly associate with homosexual icons and bisexual promoters? Read 2 Corinthians 6:14;

7. How can citizens of a “Christian Nation” allow their President who claims to be an SDA Church Elder to contract and be made to be paying homosexual promoters as State House advisors? The SDA church must help Zambians on this moral insult, spiritual immorality and political betrayal by excommunicating Elder HH. This is more of a church moral issue than a political problem for HH today in Zambia. And the SDA church is chief culprit as HH is their celebrated elder and decorated deacon;

8. President HH has never apologized to the Catholic Church and Zambians on behalf of his Secretary General and UPND Central Committee for denouncing the Lusaka Archbishop Alick Banda and insulting him as the “Living Lucifer” in Zambia. These insults even made the Catholic Pop to refuse meeting HH when he was in Italy for the second time. Any responsible statesman who is well brought up and is identified as a true Christian would have surely been disappointed with this SG-BATUKE IMENDA, forced to disassociate himself and remorsefully apologized on behalf of his erroring ruling party senior leaders. Even his church would have moved in to force him to make a public apology;

9. How come upright SDA pastors fail to prevail on the issue by ordering their church elder to openly apologize for his Insultant SG and his disrespectful and arrogant ruling party top leaders? With HH’s silence on this issue, the SDA leadership knows that their church elder approves such vulgar, hateful, divisive and disrespectful utterances against Men of God in Zambia. Look, the SDA church is telling us that such is good behavior as expected from their trusted members, church elders or deacons;

10. HH is the first president who directly and openly undermines the “Christian Nation” declaration policy. Although he verbally talks about it, HH has repeatedly shown zero interest in promoting and preserving Christianity in Zambia. He denounced 18th October, Zambia’s own Christian Holiday and has never attended its prayers, fasting and reconciliation programs. HH speedily ejected the Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Guidance upon taking office and threw it into the toilet of his cabinet as ‘good for nothing’ outfit. HH suspended the construction of Zambia’s first state cathedral. With such malice, impunity and contempt towards the Cross of Jesus Christ, how come the SDA church have kept him as their Congressional elder?

11. President HH uses unholy language, vulgar words and ungodly vocabulary that should not be associated by anyone who is anointed as an SDA church elder. This is a man who can openly call his fellow adult and in this case a former president as “Kutumpa uko” or alitumpa” ( meaning he is being stupid or he is an idiot) in reference to President Edgar Lungu) at public rallies. Despite public pressure for him to apologize, HH has never been remorseful or ashamed with his vulgar remarks while the SDA church has never acted against this ungodly behavior and unholy utterances from an elder or deacon. Read 1 Peter 2:17;

12. The SDA church is aware that their elder is a shameless hypocrite and a naked cheat. Look, HH won the presidency on the sacrificial blood and death of Jackson Kungo who was openly stoned, tortured and murdered by UPND cadres at a polling station in Solwezi on 12th August, 2021. HH knows about this UPND massacre of Jackson Kungo as he was PF North Western Provincial Chairman. But this church elder has repeatedly lied that UPND cadres have never shed blood nor killed anyone in Zambia apart from PF, PF, PF, PF, PF, PF and PF. How does the SDA church defend such a cheat and liar as their pulpit elder or church deacon when he cannot respect or acknowledge massacred political victims by his party and cadres such as Jackson Kungo?

13. Elder HH is heartless. Bally is shielding his ZNS officers who murdered the 15-year-old boy of Kankoyo township of Mufulira District, Chrispine Bunda over mealie meal. As long as Justice is not secured for this innocent Zambian who was killed by state officers in a staple food fracas, HH’s presidency remains responsible for his blood and death. Since 20th, November, 2023, the heartless HH’s government has refused to bring Justice for the death of Bunda as if his family lost a bathroom broom or kitchen plate. Therefore, his SDA church must equally be condemned and held responsible for not disciplining their congregation elder for such injustice, evil deeds and brutality and citizens and voters;

14. Elder HH is directly responsible for this aggressive ethnic purging and regional discrimination in the civil service against innocent citizens from Luapula, Northern, Muchinga and Eastern Provinces. This SDA church is fully aware that under their celebrated elder, political tribalism and regionalism has reached the highest and worst levels in Zambia than ever before. To a greater extent, Zambia is now witnessing ethic cleansing in all ministries, state agencies and parastatals ha come here come here of which ZEMA’s brutal purging of Brian Mwale is the latest shinning example. Ironically, all these evils are under the direct watch of a church elder from SDA;

15. Is the SDA church in support of the elder and statesman to become a dictator? Since he became a president, he has arrested anyone and everyone who has criticized him and made them suffer. HH is the first president with highest police arrests of citizens in less than 3 years than even Kenneth Kaunda who rules us for 27 years. No opposition political party is allowed to hold public rallies outside by elections apart himself and UPND cadres. HH even calls this approach as “Mingalato yogwila pamkosi” (game of violence & force by strangling or chocking to death). Is this behavior approved in the SDA for both members and elders? Read Proverbs 29:2;

16. HH’s government is deceitful in all satanic ways. By policy, they are stopping, beating and arresting Zambians for exporting mealie meal or maize into DR Congo. ZNS officers under HH’s government even kill civilians without any accountability in the name of preventing Zambians from smuggling mealie meal or maize into DR Congo. But repeatedly, God is exposing HH’s deceits and lies, videos show that his government is secretly exporting ZNS & other Zambian mealie meal and maize into Congo. Chililabombwe and Kasumbalesa border are HQs of UPND mealie meal snuggling scandals each week. So, where is the SDA church today, to act and discipline elder HH for all these policy inconsistencies, political deceitfulness and cruelty against Zambians? Read Matthew 5:13;

17. The SDA are aware that HH betrayed many of his political partners like KBF, Mr. Msoni, Archbishop T. Mpundu and the OCIDA family, Seer1, Maiko Zulu, B-Flow, Ambassador George Kanyamula Zulu, Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa, Bishop Mambo, Gregory Chifire, Mubita Nawa, John Sangwa, etc. He promised to work with them to foster good governance in Zambia. But after entering State House, HH has totally sidelined them and imposed oppressive policies, rule by terror and bad governance in Zambia. How can the SDA church retain such a person as their anointed elder or beloved deacon? and;

18. This SDA church is aware that, under HH’s best rule in his three years, we have seen the systematic and widespread escalation of corruption and plundering of public resources to formal kleptocracy (rule by theft) as factually submitted by the Swedish ambassador to Zambia and repeatedly explained by Dr. Fred M’membe, Sean Tembo, Edith Nawakwi, Archbishop T Mpundu, Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa, Transparency International Zambia and many others. How this SDA has kept Bally as their official church elder whose government smells kleptocracy, surely, nobody knows in heaven. But this church has this last chance to redeem and cleanse itself by excommunicating elder HH.

I end here for now. But I am appealing to other Christians, Zambians, voter citizens, our church mother bodies and other stakeholders to add more grounds and physically move and present such petitions to the highest SDA church leadership. It is a noble gesture, it is a democratic tool in advocacy and lobbying especially against a ruler who seem to be politically deaf and pompous like our HH.

Dr Chris ZUMANI Zimba is a Political Scientist, Researcher, Author & Consultant specialized in Comparative Global Governance and Democratic Theories. He holds a PhD, MA, BA and Cert in Political Science. Zimba was President Lungu’s Political Advisor from December 2019 to August 2021.