Church Mother Bodies object to Petition to Decriminalise Homosexuality in Zambia, Seek to join Petition

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Church Mother Bodies object to Petition to Decriminalise Homosexuality in Zambia, Seek to join Petition

AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF SUMMONS FOR AN ORDER FOR LEAVE TO BE JOINED TO THE PROCEEDINGS

WE, FR. EMMANUEL CHIKOYA, BISHOP ANDREW MWENDA and FR. FRANCIS MUKOSA, all Zambian Nationals resident in the City and Province of Lusaka, in the
Republic of Zambia, DO HEREBY make OATH and say as follows:

1. THAT Our particulars are as stated above.

2. THAT we are ordained clergy men and astute members of the Three Church Mother Bodies’, tasked with the mandate of dispensing and inculcating the Christian doctrine, values and ethics within and outside the society and thus duly competent to depose to this Affidavit from facts within our personal knowledge and belief.

3. THAT I, FR. EMMANUEL CHIKOYA, do hereby say as follows:

4. THAT I am the Secretary General, an ordained Priest of the Anglican Church in Zambia and a renowned member of the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) and thus duly competent to depose to the contents of this Affidavit from facts within my personal knowledge and belief.

5. THAT I, BISHOP ANDREW MWENDA, do hereby say as follows:

6. THATI am the Director General and an ordained Bishop of the Anglican church and Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and thus duly competent to depose to the contents of this Affidavit from facts within my personal knowledge and belief.

7. THAT I, FR. FRANCIS MUKOSA, do hereby say as follows:

8.THAT I am the Secretary General and an ordained Priest of the Catholic Church in Zambia and an astute member of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) and thus duly competent to depose to the contents of this Affidavit from facts within my personal knowledge and belief.

9. THAT WE, COLLECTIVELY do hereby say as follows:
10. THAT we have thoroughly read the 1st and 2nd Petitioners’ Petition, wherein, they are seeking among other reliefs, a declaration that Section 155 (c) of the Penal Code Act is unconstitutional on the grounds that it is discriminatory on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and advances inequality of persons under the law in contravention of Articles 8 (d) of the Constitution.

11. THAT further, the Petitioners posit that the said section of the Penal Code has on numerous occasions been the basis upon which the Police have arrested and the Court has convicted persons of the same sex who engage in carnal knowledge and thus, despite the said section not being applicable to persons of the opposite sex, it has been vociferously applied to persons of the same sex, thereby resulting in injustice and discrimination of the said persons and a blatant contravention of the Constitution.

12. THAT we verily believe that the Petitioners’ Petition herein seeks to guilefully advance the recognition, legalization and subsequent protection of the rights of same sex persons to lawfully have carnal knowledge.

13. THAT we are advised by our Advocates and verily believe the same to be true that in 1997, the then Republican President of Zambia, Mr. Fredrick Titus Jacob Chiluba, declared Zambia as a Christian Nation and this declaration was ascribed in the Preamble of the Constitution of Zambia.

14. THAT further, we are advised by our Advocates and verily believe the same to be true that the object of a Preamble in a piece of legislation is to set out the spirit of the piece of legislation and more particularly. to aid readers in understanding the legislative intent and guide the interpretation of the Statute.

15. THAT consequently, we verily believe that the ascription of the declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation is not superfluous and does to a great extent impact the ideologies, values and moral fabric under which the Country ought to tilt in favour of.

16. THAT we verily believe that the ascriptions and dictates of ‘values, ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’ in the Constitution, are to a large extent, ought to be defined within the precincts of the Christian doctrine, notwithstanding a person’s freedom of conscience and religion.

17. THAT accordingly. we verily believe that the Petitioners Petition herein seeks to lacerate the moral fabric of the nation, which we verily believe ought to be rooted in the Christian doctrine.

18. THAT as firm custodians of the Christian doctrine, we verily believe that the intended Interested Parties have a moral and ethical stake in the success or failure of the Iitigation, as it is our solemn duty to ensure that the Christian doctrine, as ascribed in the preamble of the Constitution, is dispensed thoroughly and effectively.

19. THAT we are advised by our Advocates and verily believe the same to be true that the law does create provision for a party to be joined to Court proceedings as an interested party.
20. THAT in the foregoing, we verily believe that the Intended Interested Parties do fall within the category of persons regarded as ‘interested parties’, competent to be joined to these proceedings.

21. THAT we verily believe that this is a fit and proper case within which this Honourable Court should join the intended interested parties to these proceedings as an interested party.