Milingo slams Duffy
By BOYD PHIRI
ARCHBISHOP Emmanuel Milingo has lashed out at Mongu Catholic diocese Bishop Paul Duffy for reportedly calling for change of Government.Archbishop Milingo said during a healing prayer meeting at Chawama Family Worship Centre in Lusaka that it was wrong for Bishop Duffy to incite people of Western Province to turn against Government.
Bishop Duffy was quoted in the media last week as saying the people of Western Province want a change of Government.
Archbishop Milingo, who is heading the United Church of Africa and championing the movement of married priests, said every church leader who calls for regime change is not chosen by God.
He said Zambians were happy with President Banda’s Government and there was no need for leaders to call for change of Government.
He urged Zambians to analyze carefully and vote for a leader who can deliver development to the people in next year’s general elections.
“Do not vote anyhow in next year’s elections. You should vote for leaders that can deliver development,” Archbishop Milingo said.
And speaking earlier, Right Reverend Bishop Isaac Chabwera of Chawama Family Worship Centre, said Zambians have once again been presented with an opportunity to vote for a Government of their choice which will deliver development from 2011 and beyond.
He said this is a time for people to seriously reflect on the events of the last few years and to critically evaluate Government’s performance in all sectors.
“We need to look at the government which is in power and what it has so far done for the Zambian people. This, of course is a time to take stock of how things have been done taking into account the success that government has scored,” he said.
Reverend Chabwera said it was not right for people to call for change of government for the sake of change.
He said people must be realistic in arriving at such a conclusion, saying that it is a dangerous statement to simply incite the electorate to vote for change.
“The Bishops Council of Zambia has observed that, in fact, the government has so far done extremely well in infrastructure development, in agriculture, in poverty reduction programmes and gender main streaming. The truth is that President Rupiah Banda and his Government have done a lot in a very short time. So far, the research we have done in Western Province shows that most people do not want change of government,” Reverend Chabwera said.
In reference to Bishop Duffy’s statement in the media, Reverend Chabwera said no responsible church leader can issue alarming statements.
“We are the voice of the voiceless but not in a negative way. We need to be on the positive side as we make statements. As Bishops Council of Zambia we, therefore, condemn the recent development in Western Province,” he said.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Milingo has called on people living with HIV/AIDS to pray hard for God to heal their affliction.
He said they should not despair because there was nothing impossible with God.
“Prayer can heal anything. And once you have been healed, stop. Do not go back to activities that made you contract HIV/AIDS,” he said.
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