OUR spiritual fathers’ timely intercession on behalf of the country as Zambia heads to the polls this Thursday epitomises what a Christian nation leadership should always strive to uphold in times like the present where tension is high. That is peace and unity.
The good book in 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
It is heartwarming to hear and see the Church take their rightful place in our country to provide guidance to political players and the general population in propagating peace and unity regardless of the difference of opinion on the political front.
Yesterday in Lusaka, Zambians from different Church denominations congregated at the National House of Prayer (NHP) and were joined by the Republican President Edgar Lungu for about two hours to pray for peace and security in the country during the general elections as they embarked on prayer and fasting.
What has been bothering the Church and even all of us well-meaning citizens is the recent violent happenings across the country in the political sphere to an extent of losing lives which is very unlike Zambian.
It is reflective of the type of leadership style of those vying for political office when such things happen and we do not see the political leaders condemning or stopping their supporters engaging in such acts.
Bishop Banda of Northmead Assemblies of God correctly said that the fact that we have seen these things is evident that some of our pursuits for these positions are unrighteous and the Zambian people should wizen to such individuals.
There were moving testimonies from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo nationals who called on Zambians to guard the peace jealously because of the untold turmoil and suffering that political conflict brought in their countries.
It goes to show just how we are admired across the region because of the manner in which we conduct our politics and elections to be specific. We call upon all the citizens not to lose sight of what is important in these political times because we only have One Zambia.
We should uphold the very democratic values that we have exhibited before and honour our founding fathers who lost their lives so that we can enjoy peace and security while leaving a good legacy for our children.
What is troubling is the gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics, the ease with which we are distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our seeming inability to build a working consensus to tackle any big problem.