By REBECCA MUSHOTA in Mpika –

• PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu congratulates Bishop Justin Mulenga in Mpika yesterday. Picture by ROYD SIBAJENE/ZANIS

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has reiterated his call to the Church to provide wisdom and guidance as the country heads towards the August 11, 2016 general elections.
He also said it was important for every Zambian to heed the Church’s advice on peace and the counsel issued in the recent Catholic Bishops’ pastoral letter.
Mr Lungu was speaking at St Joseph’s Cathedral in Mpika yesterday when he attended the Episcopal Consecration of Father Justin Mulenga as Bishop of the Mpika Diocese.
“We pray that all of us will have recourse to the wisdom recently expressed by the Catholic Bishops’ pastoral letter ‘let them all be one’,” Mr Lungu said.
He said the Government recognised the role the Church played as a partner in nation building by providing spiritual and social needs of the communities.
The Head of State said it was, therefore, important for the Government to partner with the Church to address the needs of the people.
He cited an example of Lwitikila Girls’ Secondary School and Chilonga Mission Hospital as institutions that provide proper social services in Mpika, supplementing Government’s efforts.
He called on the nation to spare a day for prayers of thanksgiving to God for the rain He had provided.
Mr Lungu said the rain should not be taken for granted, adding that leaders from other countries had been calling on him to provide them with food.
He said Zambia should thank God for its resilience to the economic hardships suffered last year, saying the country was now on the path to recovery.
“The call for prayer is important, it is not politicking. We need to thank God,” Mr Lungu said.
Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) vice-president Alick Banda said the abusive language used by politicians belonged to the Stone Age, and that there was need for politicians to respect one another.
Bishop Mulenga thanked God, his family and church members for the support he had received through his calling as a Catholic priest.
Kasama Diocese Bishop Ignatius Chama, who ran Mpika Diocese until Bishop Mulenga’s appointment, said he was grateful to President Lungu for accepting the invitation to grace the consecration.
United Party for National Development president Hakainde Hichilema, his deputy Geoffrey Mwamba, Forum for Democracy and Development leader Edith Nawakwi, and Paramount Chief Chitimukulu were among those who attended the event.
Meanwhile, President Lungu has agreed to be part of a proposed meeting by ZEC that would bring together political leaders to dialogue over political violence in the country.
The meeting that would be convened by ZEC soon would see Mr Lungu and other political party leaders discuss an effective way to end the violence perpetuated by cadres.
Mr Lungu disclosed this during a public rally at Musakanya Market in Mpika yesterday, saying he had to be part of the meeting because he did not want lawlessness.
“Let it be known that I am not a coward. I am fostering peace in the country because I swore to defend the Constitution,” he said.
Mr Lungu said he would not tolerate lawlessness in the country and instructed the police to deal with anyone causing anarchy.
Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations, Amos Chanda told journalists that the Bishops responded to the call by the President for the church to do more to curb violence.
Mr Chanda said the Catholic Bishops would by Wednesday deliver a concept paper to which leaders would commit to renounce violence.