Lusaka Catholic Priest Rev. Fr. Anthony Kapambwe Salangeta has charged that the fight against corruption is biased against those not in good terms with the system.
In his Easter sermon at Regina Pacis Catholic Church in Chawama, Fr. Salangeta said corruption allegedly exist only in people who are not friends of the system.
The Franciscan Priest observed that there are many Government workers using their positions to enrich themselves and their associates.
Fr. Salangeta said the evils in society such as corruption, unemployment, injustice and poverty represent the tomb in which the risen Jesus Christ was placed after he was crucified.
“The Gospel mentions Mary Magdalene. It says: ‘In the first day of the week which is Sunday, while it was still dark Mary and others went to the tomb. When they reached at the tomb they saw that the stone had been moved away and Jesus was not inside’. What is the meaning of the tomb? A tomb is a representation of evil. All of us fear the cemetery. All of us just go to the graveyard during burial. Because it not just in us to visit a graveyard anyhow. That is why even here the tomb represents something which is evil,” Fr. Salangeta preached during Easter Mass.
“Today a lot of people are suffering in our society. Unemployment levels are very high and our young women are indulging in unchristian acts such as beer drinking, abuse of drugs even some of them going out with sugar daddies. Life is difficulty; this is the representation of the tomb. Corruption is the order of the day. No one seems to seem to care. Government workers use their positions to enrich themselves and cronies. Corruption is only to those who are not friends to the system. If you are a friend to the system there is no corruption. Indeed a representation of the tomb. On the other hand education continues to be for the elite. Those who do not attain education will become destitute and more suffering to them. Medical facilitates are a nightmare.” he said.
“The judicial system does not favour the poor, if you are poor ku kukaka. If you bash into someone’s groundnuts as a poor person, you be detained in police cells. The rich do not stay in police cells. This is the tomb we are talking about. This is the representation of the tomb. Some people are in prison for the crime they did not commit because they do not have anyone to represent them. The poor continue to be poor, the rich continue to be rich. So if we look in the gospel of today, we are going to see that this is the representation of the tomb where there is suffering,” Fr. Salangeta continued.
Fr. Salangeta added:”However at the tomb we find two people, there are two categories of people who represent our society. Mary Magdalene and her fellow women went there because they wanted to see Jesus. Then at the tomb there are also the guards, who were guarding the tomb of Jesus Christ because they had said that he was going to be taken by his own people and then fake resurrection. The women leave the place of death hurriedly to announce that he is alive. The women represent those people who go out, people of good will, people who preach the good news. People who want to take love from others. This is what the women did, they went out to announce that Jesus Christ is resurrected and they were happy.”
“We are also being invited to spread the good news that Jesus Christ has resurrected. The women represent those who believe in victory. Those who celebrate with their friends when good things happen to them. On the other hand they represent those who speak for the voiceless and those who endure in most difficult situations such as women who sweep in the streets just to find something to feed their families. And those women who go early in the morning to buy vegetables for resale,” Fr. Salangeta said.