SIMBYAKULA

I AGREE with Minister of Home Affairs Ngosa Simbyakula that some clergymen are tarnishing the image of the church by their bad conduct.
There has been a lot of talk of late about church mother bodies to strictly enforce scrutiny of pastors to protect unsuspecting members of the public from imposters.
It is an interesting policy concept, but for it to work we should probably look at what would be at its heart – the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ).
In a nutshell, in recent years, Zambia has witnessed a proliferation of Pentecostal churches.
Why? Perhaps unsurprisingly, money is the main anchor and it features prominently in the set up and running of these churches. Unfortunately most of these churches, particularly the contemporary ones that claim to be “swords of heaven to ensure peace and justice in the country” are actually places of hell, inflicting the poor with more poverty through tithe, breaking up homes and avenging personal grievances in the name of God.
Of late, some jobless youths that have searched for jobs and could not find any, have settled into Bible study apprenticeships in church, to listen for the ‘voice of God’ and then open their own churches and become pastors to practice evangelical dentistry by peering into the mouth of the EFZ.
This is simply to establish whether or not the church mother body has any teeth at all.
This does not look promising. The hands-off and aloof approach of the EFZ to the fake Pentecostal pastors could be likened to the strange attitudes of a sick or old dog; quick to bark on sight of a stranger, only to lie down to watch from afar.
The effect of this is that imposters opening contemporary churches remain unperturbed by the consequences of their actions.
They already know what to expect. No action whatsoever from one of Zambia’s church mother bodies.
But surely the buck stops with the public face of the Ministry of Home Affairs – the Chief Registrar of Societies.
MUBANGA LUCHEMBE
Lusaka