Right Message, Wrong Messenger

 EDITORIAL | Right Message, Wrong Messenger

Archbishop Alick Banda is right on principle. The altar is not a campaign stage. When he warned Catholics not to “sell one another for a cup of tea,” he was defending something bigger than church order. He was defending the moral boundary between faith and faction.

This boundary matters more in an election year.

Zambia’s churches have long shaped civic life. They have spoken against injustice, guided transitions, and steadied the nation during moments of political turbulence. When the Church speaks, it carries weight beyond votes and party slogans. That weight must never be traded for proximity to power.

But public reaction reveals a deeper tension.

Many agree with the Archbishop’s message but question the messenger. Perception has become part of the problem. The Hilux episode and past political undertones have created the impression, fair or unfair, that sections of church leadership lean toward particular political formations. Once that perception settles, every statement is filtered through suspicion.

Moral authority depends on consistency.

A priest can speak on politics. He must. Corruption, abuse of power, economic injustice and human dignity are moral questions. Silence in the face of wrongdoing would betray the Gospel itself. But there is a difference between moral commentary and political alignment. One challenges power. The other seeks it.

The moment clergy appear to take sides, the pulpit loses neutrality and the Church loses altitude.

President Hakainde Hichilema attending church services does not automatically amount to politicisation. He is both head of state and a private citizen entitled to worship. Courtesy extended to a sitting President should not be mistaken for endorsement. However, access must be uniform. If one political actor is welcomed, the same standard must apply to others under the same conditions.

The rule must be clear, not selective.

“Belonging to a political grouping should be one’s private business,” Archbishop Banda said. That sentence is powerful. It reminds congregants that faith communities are not extensions of party structures. It also reminds clergy that their calling is to shepherd souls, not mobilise voting blocs.

Election seasons test institutions.

Political actors will seek symbolic validation wherever they can find it. Faith institutions must resist becoming trophies in partisan contests. Politicians must resist wrapping themselves in sacred legitimacy. Citizens must resist turning churches into ideological battlegrounds.

The Church must remain prophetic, not partisan.

It must challenge government excess without sounding like opposition machinery. It must caution opposition recklessness without sounding like ruling party defence. Balance is not weakness. It is strength.

Zambia’s democracy depends on institutions that stand above politics. The courts must be independent. The media must be responsible. The Church must be impartial.

Guard the pulpit, and you guard the Republic.

© The People’s Brief | Editor-in-Chief