Govt defends Alick Banda harassment
By Mast Reporter
MINISTER of Home Affairs and Internal Security Jack Mwiimbu says Archbishop Alick Banda is not the first or last to be summoned by law enforcement agencies for investigations.
Addressing the media in Lusaka yesterday, Mwiimbu said it was not strange for the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) to summon a member of the clergy to answer to various allegations leveled against him.
“We want to state from the onset that in this country, no one is above the law. all Zambians, irrespective of their status, are equal under the law. If you are called to appear before any Law Enforcement Agency, you are duty-bound to do so,” he said.
Mwiimbu said the government was concerned with political statements attached to the summoning of the archbishop.
“Various statements from political leaders, church leaders calling for solidarity and escorting of Archbishop Banda to the Drug Enforcement Commission offices. Archbishop Banda is not the first person of high standing to be called out to appear before law enforcement agencies,” he said.
He said just like former presidents were once summoned to appear before investigative wings, it was important for Archbishop Banda to do so.
“Kenneth Kaunda, Frederick Chiluba, Rupiah Banda, Michael Sata, and the incumbent, President Hakainde Hichilema, all appeared before various law enforcement agencies. There was no time, fellow citizens, when they refused to appear. it just shows that no one is above the law,” he said.
He said the allegation that the government was targeting the Catholic Church was not true.
“…there have been allegations that the government is targeting the Roman Catholic Church. That is far from the truth. The matter that Archbishop Banda has been called to appear before the Drug Enforcement Commission for is a personal matter, and it has nothing to do with the church,” he said.
But the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) said the summoning of the Archdiocese of Lusaka Archbishop Dr Alick Banda by DEC for criminal investigations was an attack on the entire Catholic Church and its leadership, which should stop immediately.
ZCCB president Archbishop Ignatius Chama said the Catholic Church was in solidarity with Archbishop Banda and the entire leadership of the church, warning that it would not allow politicians to divide the church and the people of Zambia.
“We the members of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops [ZCCB] express our unwavering solidarity with Archbishop Alick Banda and all the Catholic faithful in Zambia in the face of ongoing attacks against the church’s mission and leadership,” the statement said on Saturday.
Archbishop Chama described the directive as an attempt to silence Archbishop Banda’s voice as shepherd of the Lusaka Archdiocese and a member of the ZCCB.
“As ZCCB, we view this action as an attempt to suppress his voice as a shepherd of the archdiocese of Lusaka and a member of ZCCB. Archbishop Banda has faced consistent name-calling and what we can now recognise as state-sponsored persecution,” he said.
