CHIEFS and Church leaders are themselves in need of reconciliation thus don’t qualify to reconcile Hichilema and President Edgar Lungu, says Joseph Moyo.
He says if Zambians did not learn anything from Dr Kenneth Kaunda when he was alive they would never learn anything.
Reacting to the United Movement for Kola Bemba Kingdom’s call for the Church and traditional leaders to reconcile President Lungu and UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema so that they agree on violence-free campaigns, Moyo said sinners cannot preach to fellow sinners.
On June 16, the ECZ sanctioned the two political parties over their violent conduct during campaigns.
Electoral Commission of Zambia chief electoral officer Patrick Nshindano suspended campaigns for the PF and UPND in Lusaka, Mpulungu, Namwala and Nakonde districts due to violent campaigns.
And Movement leader Boniface Besa Bwalya called on the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops, Council of Churches in Zambia, and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia to work with traditional leaders in bringing the two leaders together.
“Ndelombako (I am requesting) the three Church mother bodies, more especially the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) where Reverend Ignatius Chama is the chairperson ete ama colleague yakwe (to call his colleagues) including two Church bodies bete (they call) Lungu na (and) HH pamo, pantu aya ema (because these are the) two big political parties. Aba bantu nga mwabeta pamo, ba pange icibote (if these two are called they should make peace),” he told The Mast. “Te cibote cakweba ati bakumane uko, elyo basainishanya beka ba PF noku, tacabombe! Kanofye ba Church balete Lungu na HH pamo bapange ichibote (it’s not the peace where they should sit and sign between the PF and UPND alone. It won’t work! Unless the Church brings Lungu and HH together to make peace).”
Bwalya noted that Hichilema might not have the authority over violence since he was not in power.
He said President Lungu had the power to stop such violence.
But Moyo, who is the founder of The African Woman Foundation (TAWF), said Zambia needs to be at peace with itself.
“No sinner can die for another. All have sinned…Zambia must be at peace with itself because it’s at war with itself. It’s Zambians against Zambians. The talk by the Kola establishment to seek reconciliation talks between President Lungu and HH misses this point. Firstly, Zambia is not about the two leaders. It’s about 18 million Zambians. It goes beyond the two leaders. The two admittedly politically lead the largest groups with social influence that cannot be ignored. But Zambia doesn’t rest in them and they don’t define Zambia. Zambia is a collective of us all,” he said. “The chiefs and the Church being suggested as convenors don’t qualify. They don’t qualify because they are themselves in need of reconciliation. We have chiefs who are in alliance with certain political parties and church leaders whose preamble at the pulpit during a sermon is to introduce a certain politician. The Church and traditional leaders are disjointed. And I can tell you that if we did not learn anything from Dr Kenneth Kaunda when he was alive, we will never learn anything with regards reconciliation. So reconciliation can only be meaningful if warring parties recognise they need help. If not, it will be like the proverbial horses to the river. But is the horse thirsty? Baptism can’t be forced on sinners. A sinner must first desire to accept Jesus Christ as his or her personal saviour before you think who will baptise them.”
Moyo said reconciliation can only happen if the different parties accept that they have a problem.
“Right now if you ask HH or President Lungu they will both say they have no problem. So how do you reconcile people that believe they have no problem? A football game can only have a referee when the two teams both are aiming to win,” he said. “In 1994, we brought in Angolan factions for a peace accord at Pamodzi Hotel because the Angolan factions accepted that there was a problem.”
Moyo said most chiefs in Zambia have lost neutrality.
“They are not aligned to their subjects but to political interests as individuals for their own interests, both temporary and long term. There are chiefs for PF and chiefs for UPND. Chiefs for President Lungu and chiefs for HH. Because of that the chiefs cannot qualify to reconcile the two leaders. They are themselves conflicted. That disqualifies them. Why? Because they are part of the current problem. They can’t unite warring parties when themselves are at war,” Moyo said. “Zambia is about us all. To achieve peace with ourselves we all must be included…I also have a problem with any proposal that excludes others. Zambia does not belong to UPND and PF. Don’t ignore Dr Fred M’membe of the Socialist Party, Chilufya Tayali, Dr Nevers Mumba of MMD, UNIP, Sean Tembo of PeP, NDC’s Josephs Akafumba and all others. All these are important because they have constituencies that are relevant.”
He charged that the hate syndrome among Zambians was ignited by Frederick Chiluba’s hate for Dr Kaunda.
“He sent him to prison, removed his portrait from the kwacha notes. Please God forgive us,” said Moyo.