The first noticeable pattern is that the Catholic bishops on the receiving end of the attacks and insults are from the Eastern Province. The first victim was the Archbishop of Lusaka, Most Rev. Dr Alick Banda who, for the crime of voicing out governance concerns and defending a priest in his diocese  from government attacks, was branded the “Lucifer of Zambia” by the ruling party’s Secretary General, Mr Batuke Imenda. The latest victim is the Auxiliary Bishop of Chipata, Rt. Rev. Gabriel Msipu Phiri, who, for demanding better service delivery, has received attacks from the Chief government spokesperson, who is also Minister of Information and Media, Mr Cornelius Mweetwa.

The second noticeable pattern is that the UPND, when attacking these servants of God from the Eastern Province, always attempt to isolate them from the Catholic Church and malign them as individuals. This is what Mr Imenda did with Archbishop Banda and what Mr Mweetwa has just done with Bishop Phiri. Since the Catholic Church is more hierarchical than the army, the objective of this scheme appears to be that of isolating the bishops from the Catholic Church to get the superiors of the bishops such as the Apostolic Nuncio and the Holy See to ask the bishops to shut up or replace them with those deemed acceptable by the UPND.

The third pattern is the consistent refusal by the government to apologise to the insulted bishops from Eastern Province, even when they are called to do so. When police invaded the office of the Catholic Bishop of Kabwe, Rt. Rev. Clement Mulenga, Mr Hakainde Hichilema apologised to the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), not just Bishop Mulenga, after the ZCCB protested about the conduct of the police. Even when the Inspector General of Police refused to see anything wrong with the actions of the police, Mr Hichilema took it upon himself to apologise to the ZCCB because he knows that what was attacked was not just an individual bishop but the leadership of the Catholic Church. 

Yet when the same police invaded the premises of the Archdiocese of Lusaka, when Mr Imenda attacked Archbishop Banda, and when Mr Mweetwa attacked Bishop Phiri, there has been no apology from Mr Hichilema to these bishops. The ZCCB has previously expressed its displeasure at the government’s conduct in relation to Archbishop Banda, and many people have also asked the government to apologise to Bishop Phiri. However, no apology has to date been rendered to the ZCCB or Dr Banda or Bishop Phiri. Why? Is it UPND policy to discredit Catholic bishops from Eastern Province? We ask this question because the commonality between Archbishop Banda and Bishop Phiri is that they are both from the Eastern Province.

And without downplaying the vileness of the attacks on Archbishop Banda by the ruling party’s Secretary General, the attacks on Bishop Phiri are grave because they were made by the SPOKESPERSON of the Government of Zambia. By standing on the platform of government spokesperson, Mr Mweetwa committed the entire government to these attacks on Bishop Phiri and the Catholic Church. Yet all that Bishop Phiri did was to bemoan the widespread poverty and high cost of living in the country. Bishop Phiri questioned why a country with such wealth and resources should have suffering citizens. He also called on politicians to fulfil their promises and improve the livelihoods of the people. Bishop Phiri further lamented the inadequate infrastructure development, particularly the poor state of the roads in Lumezi. He urged the government to go beyond promises and take practical measures to address these issues whilst stressing the significance of prioritising critical services like schools and hospitals.

The above are the views over which the UPND is crucifying Bishop Phiri, who is merely drawing attention to the plight of his flock. There is nothing wrong Bishop Phiri has done to warranty such disrespect and bullying from Mr Hichilema’s administration. The Catholic Church is known for not shying away from social, political, and economic matters affecting the people. It’s social teachings call for that. True to the life, authentic teachings, and holy practices of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church administers to the whole human person, body and soul, and in communion with other human beings. Jesus fed the hungry, castigated the corrupt, the greedy, and chasticised liars and hypocrites as he preached the word of God. Pope John Paul II summed up this well when he said: “I am not the evangelizer of democracy; I am the evangelizer of the Gospel. To the Gospel message, of course, belong all the problems of human rights; and if democracy means human rights, it also belongs to the message of the Church”.

Mr Hichilema and his regime must therefore realise that as long as there is destitution, misery, and squalor, the Church cannot keep quiet at all. They will always speak the truth with boldness and courage. The Church bears the material, religious, and moral responsibility over the people. No wonder they have always condemned corrupt, divisive, and brutal regimes globally. These interventions are part of its vocation. If any sane person should pronounce themselves on what Bishop Phiri said, it is to commend the Bishop for remaining steadfast in his pursuit for social justice, development, and peace, for his bold stance in highlighting the realities the people are facing on the ground, and for continuing to safeguard the moral and ethical values of his calling.

Moreover, Bishop Phiri is not an ignorant person; he is well knowledgeable about the conditions of life for most Zambians and the state of development in the countryside. Until his appointment by the Holy Father as Auxiliary Bishop of Chipata on December 10, 2022, Bishop Phiri was in charge of raising funds for diocesan activities. But before this portfolio, he also served as finance and administration manager at the ZCCB, among other various capacities he served in the Catholic Church. Without a doubt, Bishop Phiri has traversed the country and Eastern province in particular, performing his pastoral duties for many years, and there are not many people who are better placed to speak out on the socio-economic realities on the ground than him.

This is why we find the government’s attacks on Bishop Phiri totally uncalled for and extremely disrespectful, reckless, and unhinged. Why is the UPND leadership so intolerant to criticism? When did it become a wrongdoing to remind the government about its failures?  Why does Mr Hichilema’s regime treat critics, or those with a different opinion to theirs, condescendingly and with a lot of hostility and insolence? Why are they so inept and dangerously immature in their handling of national affairs?

Why are Mr Hichilema and the UPND attacking the Catholic Church like this? Why is Mr Hichilema reluctant to apologise to the victims when those on the receiving end of his appointees’ attacks or insults are bishops from the Eastern Province? Is it deliberate? Is the UPND out to destroy the prestige of the Catholic Church and its leadership? If the answer is NO, then how come Mr Hichilema does not see anything wrong with the continued attacks by his officials on Catholic Bishops from the Eastern Province and the damage these attacks continue to inflict on the Church?

If the answer is YES, then the follow-up question is: to what purpose or effect? To elevate the Seventh Day Adventist Church – Mr Hichilema’s church – to a position far above that of the Catholic Church? Is the struggle for ethnic and regional supremacy now being extended to bringing down the Catholic Church and elevating the Seventh Day Adventist as the Church of the State? If this is not the case, then we ask Mr Hichilema to apologise to both Archbishop Banda and Bishop Phiri. If the president refuses to do so, then we would be left with no option but to conclude that Mr Hichilema is the one sponsoring these continued attacks on Catholic Bishops from the Eastern Province as part of a government policy of accelerating the pace of destruction of the Catholic Church in Zambia.

Millions of Zambians are worried at the behaviour of the UPND towards the Catholic Church. Not content with accelerating and deepening tribal divisions, Mr Hichilema and his UPND regime are doing everything they can to divide Zambians along religious lines for their selfish personal interests. This also explains why they may have singled out the Catholic Church for their special and brutal treatment. This is a dangerous path, and we warn the UPND to stop it! Zambia has enjoyed religious peace for a very long time. We want it this way.