The Editor Zambia
The malicious, provocative and misplaced decision by Archbishop Alick Banda to bless NRPUP/ Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance presidential candidate Brian Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu ahead of Thursday’s general election has understandably raised questions about his toxic hatred for President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND government.
It is a well-known fact to many Zambians that Archbishop Banda supported the Patriotic Front (PF), and the high priest benefitted from the PF government of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. 
It is not a surprise that Archbishop Banda is now supporting the reincarnation of the PF, Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance, hopping Brian Mundubile, and Makebi Zulu will win this week’s elections¹.
The clergyman is also an alarmist who would like to see the country on fire because of his divisive, irresponsible, and hateful rantings.
His inherent favour for certain regions of Zambia against others is as toxic as his personal hatred for President Hichilema, which he shamelessly manifests using the Catholic Church podium.
While a church leader is entitled to meet politicians from across the political divide, the difficulty arises when such engagements are done by a brazen clergyman with a long record of outspoken criticism of President Hichilema and the UPND Government.
Archbishop Banda has made strong statements accusing the presidency of “playing with fire”, questioning aspects of the constitutional reform process and warning about alleged threats to democracy.
Against that background, the public sight of senior opposition figures receiving electoral blessing from such clergyman is a clear sign of a church moving beyond pastoral engagement and into the political contest itself.
Alick Banda is giving the Catholic Church a bad name. He seems to have personal issues against President Hichilema.
The Lusaka diocese’s political interventions are anarchic because they are clearly promoting regional, tribal and personal agendas, all birthed individually by Archbishop Alick Banda.
Zambians must therefore be careful whenever religious authority like the Archbishop Alick Bandas of this world divide citizens along political, regional, or tribal lines.
A senior Catholic cleric like Archbishop Alick Banda has an enormous platform and moral influence, though that influence should unite the country rather than deepen political hostility.
It would be particularly unfortunate if Archbishop Banda’s personal differences with President Hichilema were allowed to become confused with the position of the Catholic Church.
If the Archbishop has personal political disagreements with President Hichilema, he should not, in the process, create the impression that the Catholic Church itself has become an instrument for settling personal political scores.
The Catholic Church belongs to all Zambians who follow its teachings. It is not the property of the UPND, NRPUP, PF, Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance, or any other political organisation.
The sight of Archbishop Banda blessing opposition leaders immediately before an election, therefore, deserves careful scrutiny because the action is being done by a politician/clergyman who has been hostile to President Hichilema.
One need not claim that a modern church leader is equivalent to a medieval pope. The historical circumstances are entirely different. Nevertheless, history provides useful lessons about the consequences when religious authority becomes entangled with political interests.
In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued Dum Diversas, a papal bull that authorised the Portuguese monarchy to conquer and subjugate certain non-Christian peoples.
The historical episode illustrates how religious authority, when intertwined with political power, can be invoked to legitimise deeply harmful political projects.
The lesson for Zambia is not that today’s Catholic clergy support such practices. They plainly do not. The lesson is that religious authority must always be exercised with great care, particularly when political passions are running high.
That is why Archbishop Banda should be held to the highest standard. The Church should be a moral referee, not a political player. Its responsibility is to promote peace, truth, reconciliation, justice, and democratic participation—not to appear to confer ecclesiastical favour on one political camp while relentlessly condemning another.
There is also a serious danger in political rhetoric that appears to encourage hatred. Zambia has 73 tribes and numerous regional identities, but these differences have historically coexisted within one nation.
Any political or religious figure who appears to encourage tribal, regional, or sectarian antagonism risks undermining one of the country’s greatest achievements: peaceful coexistence.
The credibility of the Church depends not merely on the strength of its statements but on the fairness with which its principles are applied.
Archbishop Banda should, therefore, stop using his position within the Church by dividing Zambians to satisfy personal political hostility towards President Hichilema.
At this critical moment in Zambia’s democratic history, the country does not need a hateful or divisive clergy like Archbishop Alick Banda.
It needs religious leaders who can cool political temperatures, reconcile citizens, and remind politicians that power is temporary while the nation belongs to everyone.
The Catholic Church must remain a church for all its faithful, and Archbishop Banda, precisely because of the authority of his office, has a responsibility to ensure that his personal political opinions do not become confused with the voice of the Church.
At the moment, Archbishop Banda is dragging the whole church into his cheap politicking and personal battles.
