ZAMBIA: Take Part in Pre-election Process, Catholic Laity in Zambia Urged
Mwenya Mukuka
As Zambia goes to the polls on August, 12th 2021, Zambian National Council for the Catholic Laity (ZNCCL) has encouraged Catholic lay people to take part in pre-election processes.
In his speech during the launch of a project dubbed, “Strengthening Democracy in Zambia”, ZCCB National Pastoral Coordinator, Fr. Cornelius Chibamba, acknowledged the significant place of the Laity in the Church and in society.
“As the Catholic Church, we depend on the laity to be our light in the democratic process. We therefore urge all our lay members to be part and parcel of the entire process taking place until when we will have elections,” Fr. Chibamba said in a speech read on his behalf by Fr. Leonard Namakhumba during the Wednesday, July 14 event held at Kapingila ZCCB House in Lusaka.
“It is right to have members of our laity even vie for political seats. Through that, the church as a sanctifier of the society shall be well represented among the political leadership,” Fr. Chibamba continued.
Father Chibamba, who is also the Acting ZCCB Secretary General further underscored the need for voter registration and civic education and urged the Laity to support the government in such endeavours.
“There are many people who do not understand the entire democratic process and what they are supposed to do as the country prepares for the General Elections. It is your responsibility as members of the laity council to use your time, energy and resources to make sure that these disadvantaged people get to practice their democratic right,” Fr. Chibamba added.
“The role of the Church is to educate people on the entire democratic process for them to make sound decisions based on what they will have gathered from the entire process and their understanding of various candidates who have presented themselves for elective posts,” he further added.
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