PRESS RELEASE
THE SDA CHURCH DISTANCES ITSELF FROM THE KELVIN KAUNDA APOLOGY TO ECL
March 17th, 2023
LUSAKA – We wish to reiterate that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is apolitical and avoids aligning itself with political organizations.
We have always ensured that our engagement with political leaders when necessary is constructive as well as privately conducted to avoid being misunderstood and misleading our church members as we are alive to the fact that they belong to different political parties of their choice.
Following the statement attributed to Mr. Kelvin Kaunda in which he was quoted as apologizing to former President Edgar Lungu on behalf of all our Church elders as regards some remarks that were made by the Republican President, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema in Kitwe; we wish to state the following:
1. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Zambia is guided in its operations and management by among other documents the Working Policy, Church Manuel. In this particular matter, we are also guided by The Communication Policy for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Zambia. These documents set the tone for our organisation’s culture; communicates expectations to employees and church members and guide the day-to-day operations.
2. The Communication Policy for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Zambia on Page 7 guides as follows:
8.0 EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION
8.1 GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT
8.1.1 The Church shall provide clear and relevant information to the general public on matters that affect its relationship, perception and its standing in society. In doing so, the Church shall endeavor to use different means of communicating to the public at its disposal.
8.1.2 External communication shall only be done by officially designated staff and this shall be done in a professional manner.
8.2 NATIONAL OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED COMMUNICATIONAUTHORITIES
8.2.1 The Union Presidents are the chief spokespersons of the Church in their respective Unions. For joint union matters, however, the two Unions shall appoint/designate an official Spokesperson who shall communicate with Media, Government authorities and the public. The Spokesperson shall hold office for a period until a subsequent quinquennial session. In discharging his functions, the designated spokesperson shall liaise with the officers of the two Unions for purposes of consensus. In the absence of consensus on a particular matter, the EXCOMs or ADCOMs of both Unions shall take a vote to come up with a position on the matter.
3. Having quoted the above authority, we wish to state that Mr. Kaunda who is an elder in our Church has no authority to speak on behalf of the Seventh day Adventist Church in Zambia in part or its entirety. We also do not have one who speaks on behalf of a section or all the elders in our Church in Zambia.
4. Therefore, he was speaking and representing his own views and political interests which have nothing to do with the Church. We do acknowledge that he has like any other Zambian citizen a Constitutional right to belong to any political association of his choice but that does not grant him authority to speak on behalf of the Church.
5. We therefore, wish to inform our members and the general public to ignore the statement attributed to Mr. Kaunda as it does not represent the position of the Church but his own political views which is his personal inherently deserved privilege. We would like to appeal to Mr. Kaunda to avoid involving the Church in his politics in future as doing so may have far reaching consequences in maintaining Church unity.
6. Further, we would like to request the media institutions that covered Mr. Kaunda’s story to ensure they apply themselves to best ethical journalism practices that enjoins journalists to seek the truth and report it objectively. This includes fact-checking, not intentionally distorting information, identifying authentic sources, avoiding stereotypes, supporting the open exchange of opinions and balanced reporting.
Dr. Vanny Munyumbwe
Dr. Tommy Namitondo
President – Southern Zambia Union Conference
President – Northern Zambia Union Conference
Does Hakainde own the SDA Church?
An apology was actually welcome. Hakainde is an Elder at SDA, and his behaviour was less than expected for an Elder.
The president was not speaking on behalf of the SDA Church. Hence this overzealous elder is “out of order” here. Ngati ba PF have been giving him handouts, he has now inadvertently exposed himself. Or could it be that pressure from PF to humiliate HH and the church he congregates to prevailed over Mr. Launder to act outside established church norms?
Mr. Kaunda not Launder
It is dangerous to have an elder who does not know the limits of his authority.
Clearly ba Kaunda cannot in any way speak on behalf of the SDA church, neither can he issue an apology on behalf of the President.
Church Capture.. someone is a God. Those who seek peace are with God, those against peace are with the evil one. The body of Christ
doesn’t promote Insults or bitterness.. Insulting is not Political Discourse, It is within the realm of Morality – the Christian virtues which should be embraced by any member of a decent Church..more so an elder so says God in Paul’s Letter to Titus.
When ECL made whatever statement he must have made in UCZ people demonised the whole UCZ and labelled it PF.
Today both elders in our church SDA cross paths we still want to push the other to PF in defense of SDA.
What kind of hypocrites are we in SDA? I see why HH is supported more by hypocrites than sobre and straightforward individuals. It seems most of Zambia’s hypocrites are in our church.
Ba 2.8 Lies, ECL made his statement within the UCZ church premises after a church service whereas HH was at a political gathering.
It is wrong to allow politicians to use the pulpit or church premises for politics. However, having said this, it is in order for the church to take a firm stance on issues that have to do with justice. They cannot remain apolitical in the face of injustices.
Ba JMC,
Hakainde is an Elder at SDA. Every statement he makes should honour the SDA, God, his party, and the country at large.
As an Elder, he is always “in church”, even when he is not in a church building. He is always representing SDA. That is the responsibility he took on.
I hope this makes sense.