Catholics glorify PF – Milupi

By BARNABAS ZULU

GOVERNMENT has dismissed the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) Pastoral Letter, claiming that the Catholic Church has authored the letter skewed towards glorifying the Patriotic Front (PF) whose economic transgressions President Hakainde Hichilema is working hard to correct.
The government says the Pastoral Letter that has criticised the UPND administration on an array of governance failures, including the continued arrest of opposition leaders, the compromised Judiciary and the continued harassment of the Church and its clergy is biased and unfairly targeting the new dawn administration and President Hichilema.
The Pastoral Letter, released last week, is urging President Hichilema to declare his assets, render a public apology to the Catholic Church after Batuke Imenda branded the Lusaka Archbishop, Dr Alick Banda as Lucifer, has also highlighted human rights abuses, high cost of living, alongside the prolonged detention of journalists and opposition politicians.
Charles Milupi, the Minister of Infrastructure Housing and Urban Development has however dismissed the letter, claiming it was skewed toward glorifying the PF and not representative of the government’s efforts in righting the wrongs of the previous administration.
“We all respect the opinions of the Catholic Church, but those opinions must be honest, transparent, and respectful,” Mr Milupi said in an interview.
“The Pastoral Letter is clearly biased towards one political party. The country’s current issues must be understood in the context of the situation we inherited.
It is like repairing a house that has been badly damaged. You cannot compare the current state of the house with how it was when you first took over,” Mr Milupi said.
He also accused the ZCCB of ignoring the challenges the government was facing in addressing the legacy of the previous administration.
“They talk about human rights as though the previous government was an angel. Many people were shot, and others are still living with bullets in their bodies.
When we took over, there was a culture of fear. It was difficult to even wear a Manchester United T-shirt in public without risking arrest. Are they aware of how bad things were?” Mr Milupi wondered.
Mr Milupi also pointed to the alleged corruption and poor quality infrastructure under the PF government, which he claimed the Church has been failing to address.
“We have already provided figures on how much infrastructure costs and the quality of what we have built. But to them, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“They are quick to demand asset declarations, yet they don’t seem concerned about the previous administration’s massive increase in wealth.
Former President Lungu went from declaring K1.5 million to K23 million in just 15 months. How is that not relevant?” Mr Milupi asked.
On asset declarations for President Hichilema, Mr Milupi said there is no legal requirement for sitting presidents to publicly declare their assets.
“It’s not in the law. If they want it to be law, they should lobby Parliament to introduce a bill,” he said.
“President Hichilema declared his assets before the 2021 elections, as required by law. But asking for public declarations now is a matter for the legislature to decide, not the Church,” he said.
He said since the Catholic Church was friendly to the opposition Members of Parliament, it should lobby the parliamentarians to change the laws on the declaration of assets, so that they could be made publicly.
Mr Milupi also took a swipe at what he believes is the Church’s failure to admit the government’s efforts to tackle the cost of living, which he admits had remained a major concern for many Zambians.
He pointed to various interventions, including the increased Constituency Development Fund (CDF), cash-for-work programmes, and food-for-work initiatives.
“Let us not ignore the positive things happening,” Mr Milupi said. “No mention of free education, no mention of increased medicines in hospitals, or the progress on key infrastructure projects like the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway. The government is making strides, and the Catholic Church should be a unifying force, not a divisive one. We need support, not unwarranted criticism,” Mr Milupi said.
Mr Milupi stressed the need for unity and called for the Catholic Church to adopt a more balanced approach in its commentary.
“A family cannot function when one child is constantly criticised while the other is ignored,” Mr Milupi said. “The Catholic Church should be the mother to all, offering constructive feedback that helps us all grow,” he said.