President Hakainde Hichilema’s Church
support is fundamentally different from former president Edgar Lungu’s gift of a motor vehicle to Archbishop Alick Banda of the Lusaka Archdiocese.
In public life, intent matters. So does process, and above all, so does the line between personal generosity and abuse of public trust.
On these three measures, President Hakainde Hichilema’s engagement with the Church stands on firm ground and sharply apart from the controversy surrounding Archbishop Alick Banda. 
The President’s approach is simple and defensible. His contributions are directed to institutions, not individuals. They are designed to strengthen community-facing programmes, schools, clinics, youth initiatives, and social welfare rather than enrich any cleric personally.
This distinction is not cosmetic; it is foundational. Institutions outlive individuals, serve broad constituencies, and are accountable to governance structures. That is where public confidence is built.
Equally important is the source of the support. President Hichilema gives from his own wealth, which was accumulated transparently over decades in the private sector. There is no conversion of State assets into political goodwill. No backdoor benefits. There is no laundering of public property through pious optics. Private generosity, lawfully earned and openly given, is not a scandal. It is civic virtue.
Contrast this with the matter that has drawn national scrutiny. The issue is not faith, nor the Church, nor charity. The issue is personal benefit derived from what is widely known to be public property.
When an individual receives a gift that originates from the State, the burden of explanation is heavy. Public assets are not trinkets; they belong to citizens. Accepting them for personal use erodes trust and invites lawful inquiry. That inquiry is not persecution it is accountability.
Attempts to blur this line by framing scrutiny as an attack on religion are disingenuous. Zambia’s Constitution protects freedom of worship, not exemption from the law. Clergy are moral leaders, yes, but they are also citizens. The higher the moral calling, the higher the standard expected.
President Hichilema has been consistent on this point. Support the Church’s mission, not personal lifestyles. Build public good, not private comfort. Give openly, not opportunistically. These are not talking points; they are guardrails.Those who insist on false equivalence miss the point.
There is a world of difference between a leader using personal resources to uplift communities through institutions and an individual benefiting personally from assets meant for the public. One strengthens society. The other weakens it.
Zambians deserve clarity, not confusion. Charity is honourable when it is clean. Accountability is necessary when lines are crossed. On this record, the President’s position is not only defensible, it is right.
