State House Damage Control is poorly done -Bishop Bilon Kalumbinga

To those who have asked me if I have seen this letter (Attached), the answer is, yes, I have, and below is my take. First of all, this letter was done in a hurry. This is firefighting, and the damage control is poorly done. You can see that from the flaws in the letter. We will address that later, but first, let's deal with the real issues. This letter is talking about how the President feels about prayer! That he is a devoted Christian! That he would never stop Christians from holding prayers! That he did not have a hand in stopping the prayers! Etc, etc Those are not the real issues.

The real issue is, let the “investigations” be conducted speedily and provide the answers to:

1. Was the meeting disrupted by police at 21:00 hours? If so, who sent them?

2. Was there a written notice delivered to the organiser in good time, say 2 to 3 days before, to officially inform Apostle Sunday Sinyangwe that the prayers cannot go ahead? And if such a notice exists, why has State House not circulated it?

3. What was the rationale, the reason, the excuse for stopping the prayers?

4. If it is true that the prayers clashed with a government function, what function was that? Since when did the government start holding meetings or functions at night? Because if the prayers were stopped at 21:00hrs that means the government meeting was supposed to start after 22:00hrs!!!!

5. For the venue management to allow people to gather that means Apostle Sunday Sinyangwe booked the venue first. So, why would the government go for a venue that was already booked? These are questions and concerns State House should address.

In the meantime, we will wait for the investigation findings. "STATE HOUSE DISTANCING ITSELF" This "damage contol letter" raises more questions and concerns than solving the problem. State House cannot distance itself. I mean, The Police report to the IG.

The IG reports to the President. So, if some police are trotting around, disrupting prayer meetings and the IG is not aware, and further the President is not aware! Then we have a big problem on our hands! "THE PRESIDENT WOULD NEVER STOP PRAYERS" This is a very bad statement.

The President should not be mentioned in this fashion, because matters of prayers and church (religion) are well provided for in our laws. It shouldn't involve the President in any way. The laws alone has provisions to manage matters of Religion in our country. The President should not be thought of as being able to "allow" or "stop" prayers or worship.

BLESSINGS

Let peace prevail.

Dr Fred M'membe

President of Socialist Party and 2026 Official Candidate 

Hakainde Hichilema

Current President of the Republic of Zambia and 2026 official candidate for United Party for National Development-UPND

Hon Given Katuta Mwelwa

2026 Presidential Candidate

Independent