A clergyman in Lusaka has observed that it is important for everyone to treat violence as an enemy if the vice is to be fought aggressively.
Bishop Richard Kakuwa who is also executive director of a church organisation called Every Home for Christ, told Zambian Eye in an interview that there is nothing that one can gain from violence as it is costly to a growing economy like Zambia.
He noted that any leader that whose main focus is on winning an election at the expense of the lives of the Zambian people is not a worthy leader.
“Every political party should take responsibility because what we are seeing in the political domain is the “I not care” syndrome,” he said. “Any leader who does not care for the people’s lives but is more inclined to winning the elections is not worth a leader. In certain countries, we have seen leaders resign on account of such scenarios. There is nothing to gain from violence, if anything, it is costly to the country’s growing economy.”
And Bishop Kakuwa has proposed that political parties should consider engaging political chaplains in their party structures who will offer spiritual guidance to the party as a way of combating bad vices such as violence.
He explained that the party chaplain will also provide training and advice to the youths thereby maintaining peace in the nation.
The clergyman however observed that it would be difficult for the church to make headway in matters relating to political violence in the country as long as the parties involved continue denying their involvement in it.
He asserted that not until political players own up and take responsibility will the church be able to provide guidance and prayer to combat the vice.
“The church is able to give counsel, training on the impact of violence but as long as they [political parties] remain in denial, it would be difficult for the church to intervene. The political parties understand the effect of violence. We assume that those engaged in violence are the cadres but where does a cadre get the authority to incite violence?” he asked
Bishop Kakuwa charged that the rate at which violence is moving will have devastating consequences in the near future, adding that even those who are not directly involved will be greatly affected.
He stated that the country is now at crossroads on who is causing the violence, further stating that the political leaders should show political will to discontinue the vice.