National day of prayers; is it really necessary?

The so-called national day of prayers, fasting, repentance and reconciliation which is usually commemorated on October 18th has finally come and gone. Obviously, it’s quite gratifying President Hakainde Hichilema stole the thunder from his adversaries, detractors and naysayers alike by gracing the occasion since he took over the reins of power otherwise they wouldn’t have spared him – they’d have gone to town crucifying him and calling him all sorrs of names!

Is it really necessary for us to continue maintaining this day on our calendar especially that we’re already worshiping God on days that are convenient for us – Sundays, Saturdays or even Fridays, one may wonder. In this offering, we shall seek to demonstrate the absurdity and hypocrisy of this day!

But how did it all get started?

Many at times, politicians tend to seek to ‘cloth’ their deficiencies and inadequacies into prayer, rest assured citizenry will easily fall for it given our extreme naivety and gullibility!

As our readers would recall, Frederick J. Chiluba, a very eloquent and dapper-dresser unionist turned politician, who successfully dislodged Kenneth Kaunda from the throne after 27 years at the helm in the 1991 scintillating elections was a fervent born-again Christian…..or at least that’s what he portrayed to the public.

In a country made up of 95.5% Christians, with a good chunk of them (75.3% at least) representing the protestant groups, Chiluba obviously enjoyed en masse support from Christians, particularly the pentecostals!

In a move seen as an attempt to probably appease his ardent followers, a few weeks after assuming office, he took to the hallowed grounds of the old-fashioned mansion that once housed Sir Evelyn Hone, the last Governor of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) to make a declaration that would leave a gulf among adherents for a long time to come.

“Dear God…… As a nation, we come to the throne of grace; we humble ourselves and admit our guilt – we repent from all our wicked ways of idolatry, the occult, immorality, injustice and corruption and all other sins that have violated your righteous laws. We turn away from all this and renounce it in Jesus’s name,” he read from a written script as his audience boisterously affirmed, Amen! “I declare today that I submit myself as President to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I likewise submit government and the entire nation of Zambia to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I further declare that Zambia is a Christian nation!”

And as the race for the 1996 general elections heated up, the preamble to the Zambian constitution was promptly amended to declare the Republic of Zambia as a Christian nation. Chiluba would of course end up re-elected to a second five-year term despite a lawsuit questioning his birth place, and hence bringing his eligibility into doubt.

On one hand, the Evangelical/Pentecostal pastors generally welcomed the initiative, while on the other, the Roman Catholic Bishops and the Council of Churches in Zambia cried foul as they were never consulted.

The Catholic church which constitutes 20% of our country’s population asserted that the declaration was discriminatory to non-Christians and undemocratic! They further issued the following statement to buttress their position, “The Catholic bishops of Zambia are opposing a plan to identify Zambia as “a Christian nation” in the preamble to a new proposed constitution.
A country cannot practice the values and precepts of Christianity by a mere declaration.”

Did President Chiluba, his Cabinet ministers or indeed senior government officials lead exemplary lives after the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation?

Father Joe Komakoma, Executive Director of the Catholic Commission for Justice & Peace at the time provided candid insights, “leaders are amassing wealth in dubious ways, leaving ordinary people uncared for. Lust for money, power and social privileges has been made to look like a virtue. This has resulted in the worsening of social indicators, high poverty levels, widening of the gap between the rich and the poor, endemic corruption and a sharp rise in plunder of our national resources.”

Archbishop John Mambo, former head of the Church of God in Zambia equally weighed in with the following observation, “there has been a rise in immorality and corruption in our country which puts a question mark on our being called a Christian nation.”

Edgar Lungu himself was never known to belong to any Church before he became President. He was actually said to be a frequent patron of some Casinos in Lusaka; enjoying his Jameson well into the night.

When he took over as Republican President in 2015 after of course the demise of Micheal Sata, he had to find a way of endearing himself to the quite sceptical and judgmental public, particularly the Christians. He re-proclaimed Zambia as a Christian nation stating thus, “The declaration is a sign of the country’s reverence to God and the acknowledgement of his sovereignty.”

He would further go ahead and declare October 18th as a Public Holiday in observance of the day of National Prayer, Fasting and Reconciliation

Reacting to this, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops(ZCCB) stated that although they welcomed the national day of prayer, the Church had some issues concerning the organisation of this day as was more of a political event than religious.

“The position of the Church, especially to all priests, is that you are not to take part in the events of this day.

When called upon to preside over or just to preach don’t accept. If our Christians are to participate, they may do so in their individual capacity not in the name of the Church,” read the statement.

How on earth did ba Lungu, his Cabinet ministers and senior party officials conduct themselves whilst in office?

Whenever there were state functions, it was like a scene out of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ – there would be binge-drinking and Slay Queens would be invited to provide entertainment, of course!

Were they good stewards of our national resources as expected of believers?

Of course, not! They literally went on rampage looting the treasury at night while pretended to carry themselves as God-fearing during the day!

Look at the colossal amounts of money in foreign currency being discovered in garages of their side-chicks straight from the Bank of Zambia! Look at all those properties they acquired overnight – breathtaking mansions in posh neighbourhoods, helicopters and impressive fleets of limousines and trucks when most of them were actually paupers wandering about in flip-flops and drinking chibuku in shanty compounds! Look at the way they gassed us during our sleep in our homes! Look at the way they brutalized us……hacked-off our limbs, gorged-our eyes and opened gaping holes in skulls for simply belonging to the opposition! Was there anything Christian about that?

Kenneth Kaunda belonged to the United Church of Zambia, Levy Mwanawasa was a Baptist, Micheal Sata was a devoted Catholic while Hakainde Hichilema has been an elder in the Seventh Day Adventist for quite some time; these leaders neither ever scaled the mountain-tops at any given time and engaged in Christian rhetoric to proclaim their faith nor indeed abused the Church to gain political mileage.

In conclusion, we’d like to quote Mathew 7:15, “Beware of the false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Should we continue turning up for prayers on this day or stick to Sundays, Saturdays and Fridays? Have your say…..

Prince Bill M Kaping’a
Political/Social Analyst