Catholic Bishops warn over cadres, political violence

ZAMBIA Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) vice-president Most Rev Ignatius Chama says the 2021 elections will be a disaster if political violence is not stamped out now.

Archbishop Chama has expressed concern that if the spirit of ‘cadreism’ is not curtailed by various political players in Zambia, the country might degenerate into tribal violence.

“These cadres who belong to various political parties are taking advantage of this and they are manipulating the situation. They are behind most reported political violence that is taking place in Zambia,” Archbishop Chama said.

He noted that although Zambia has not yet experienced any tribal wars like other countries in Eastern Africa, the country is facing an inherent tribal tension that needs to be checked.

“We have not seen in Zambia tribal wars as such, but underneath the current seemingly peaceful existence we have, this thing [violence] is burning and from time to time we hear there is violence especially during elections,” Archbishop Chama noted.

He urged all political party leaders in Zambia to restrain their cadres from fuelling violence.

“It is my hope and prayer that all political party leaders should put down their feet and speak the language of condemnation and make sure that these cadres are handed over to the law enforcement authority so that this thing [political violence] is stamped out because if we do not stamp it out now, when we go towards elections in 2021, it is going to be a disaster,” Archbishop said.

He further urged Zambians to work together towards co-existence and that ethnic diversity could bring about meaningful development to the country.

“Zambia is a country that has 73 ethnic groupings and this ethnic diversity is a gift from God that we have. We can use this gift as the opportunity for us to grow together in unity and peace and enhance our development,” Archbishop Chama said.

He was commenting on a sub theme of the 19th AMECEA Plenary of the Catholic Bishops in AMECEA Region entitled ‘Peaceful coexistence among diverse and ethnic groupingswithin the AMECEA Region’, that was deliberated on in the second session on July 17.

Catholic Bishops in the AMECEA Region are meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from July 14 to  23 in which, and the theme: ‘Vibrant diversity, equal dignity, peaceful unity in God in the AMECEA region, are discussing, among other things, the Catholic Church’s championing of integral human development, peaceful coexistence and unity among the citizens in the AMECEA region.

The region comprises Episcopal Conferences of countries of East Africa and partly Southern namely Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Others are Ethiopia, Eritrea and North and South Sudan.

 

And the ZCCB has urged the government to create harmony in communities so that internally displaced persons and immigrants can be integrated and have all the rights and privileges required of human existence.

ZCCB Bishop director for Caritas Zambia, Rt Rev Evans Chinyemba said this on the sidelines of the ongoing 19th session of Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) Plenary in Addis Ababa.

Bishop Chinyemba observed that Zambia had received a number of refugees and immigrants from countries that have mainly experienced political turmoil and want to be integrated into local communities but the integration process poses some challenges as some countries of their origin do not want that.

“Recently, there has been a local integration programme [in Zambia] in which some of the people that have come from these warring countries, who have been in Zambia for a long time have now identified themselves with the Zambian community. These are people who want to be integrated straight away but the governments where they came from want to get them back to their countries,” Bishop Chinyemba said.

He has since urged the affected countries to amicably agree on how they can reintegrate those that do not wish to return to the place of their origin.

“It is the processes that need to be looked at from both ends, the receiving country and the country that these refugee and immigrants came from. The political playing field has to be levelled and the process of dialogue has to take place between the affected countries,” said Bishop Chinyemba.

The 19th AMECEA Plenary is discussing , among other issues, the Catholic Church’s championing of integral human development, peaceful coexistence and unity among the citizens in the AMECEA region.

The plenary is being held under the theme: ‘Vibrant diversity, equal dignity, peaceful unity in God in the AMECEA region’.

The AMECEA region comprises Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Others are Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan and South Sudan.