ZNS ejects KBF, wife from church function
By George Zulu
ZAMBIA National Service (ZNS) officers on Saturday chased away opposition Zambia Must Prosper (ZMP) president Kelvin Fube Bwalya from a Catholic Church women’s fundraising function hosted at the the military wing’s Chamba Valley facility.
Bwalya, popularly known as KBF, who arrived at the function with his wife, a devoted Catholic Women’s League member, joined the rest of the guests after undergoing screening at the heavily guarded gate slightly after 19:00 hours.
He said upon taking his seat, some officers walked to where he was enjoying himself with other Catholic faithful and ordered him to leave immediately without giving any reasons, to the annoyance of his wife.
“We don’t allow politicians here, sir. Can you, please, leave,” one of the officers ordered Bwalya, who looked shocked at the conduct of the officers.
In an interview with The Mast, Bwalya expressed shock and described the move as an unlawful and politically motivated eviction from a religious fundraising event.
It was a violation of his constitutional right of freedom of association because he had been invited to the function as guest.
“This evening [Saturday], my wife and I, together with senior officials of the Zambia Must Prosper Party [ZMP], attended a dinner fundraising event at the ZNS Chamba Valley for the Catholic Sisters ‘Sister to Sister’ Initiative. Barely five minutes into the event, senior Zambia National Service (ZNS) officials ordered us to leave the venue without any explanation or justification. My wife, a devout Catholic and long-time supporter of Church initiatives, was deeply hurt by this humiliating act,” he said.
Bwalya said there was no legal justification for the ZNS officers to chase him from a privately organised function.
“Zambia is not a one-party state. The Constitution of the Republic of Zambia guarantees Freedom of assembly (Article 21), freedom of association (Article 22), and freedom of conscience, religion, belief and opinion (Article 19),” he said.
