Minister of Religious Affairs and National Guidance Godfridah Sumaili says processing pornographic material is not acceptable, and people should not condemn her for keeping quiet on the Lawrence Sichalwe scandal, saying she has been doing ‘a lot of work” on the minister in the back ground.

And Rev Sumaili insists that the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) acted in good interest of citizens to ban the Lusaka Hustle reality show from airing on Dstv’s Zambezi Magic channel.

In an interview with News Diggers, Tuesday, the National Guidance Minister said it would be a waste of her energy to talk about Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Lawrence Sichalwe who posted a pornographic video in a PF Whatsapp group, as she had already been doing some work in the background beside the police handling it.

She, however, could not state if she had been counselling Sichalwe to stop keeping pornographic videos on his phone, saying revealing such private discussions would discourage other people from seeking counseling and guidance from her.

“The thing is that, as you know we have different government ministries. The Police said something, that is Home Affairs, so what do you want me to say? That is just waste of my energy because it’s already being dealt with, another ministry has already said something, you see what I mean? It’s like now, I said something before ministry of information, now IBA has come in, I don’t have to say anything anymore,” Sumaili said.

“I talk about morals every day! Generally I am speaking about morals, that Zambia is a Christian nation, that we are also a country that is anchored on morals, good morals and therefore anything pornographic is not acceptable! That’s what’s given and we are anchored on that.”

When asked if she failed to admonish Sichalwe publicly because he was a fellow Cabinet minister, Sumaili said that was not the case as she had done something in the background that she couldn’t disclose.

“No, it’s not that, that’s not the case and you don’t even know what I did in the background, you don’t know. But as I have said already, the ministry of Home Affairs were already dealing with the matter,” Sumaili said.

“I can’t say that (what I counselled him on), I don’t want to begin to say that, I don’t think it will be right for me to start….I counsel many people and I don’t come to the open and say ‘ I counselled this on, I have admonished that one, no! Otherwise, I will lose value. For people to take me seriously and ask for help, counseling, I have to be trusted, I have to respect them. These are private things, so I don’t talk about the people that I counsel, but I talk to many people,” Sumaili said.

When reminded that she had publicly spoken out on the ‘immorality’ on a television show while dealing with the pornographic issue privately, Rev Sumaili there was no deliberate design to protect the minister, adding that government was not applying the law selectively but dealing with issues as they arose.

“You cannot be comparing issues, we deal with them as they come. That other one was already dealt with, you heard the Police talk. So it was already government that was dealing with that matter. I didn’t have to come and say something about it, no! This one, people cried out and of course the law also speaks very loudly. So I had to say something and IBA also followed, so we deal with the matters as they come. But I can tell you that we are resolved as government to respect the Law, to respect the Constitution of this country and we shall follow the constitution with justice. It’s not that we decide on how to apply the law, even you people in the media you have to be fair and report things properly, you people have to promote peace among the people of Zambia,” Sumaili said.

On the Lusaka Hustle show, Sumaili said it was the people who rejected it, in accordance with the laws of Zambia.

“In terms of guidance I mean, Zambians have given themselves values, you even know that it’s in the constitution, part 2 Article 8, go there you will find that as Zambians we have said ‘these are the things to guide us, these are the things we are anchored on. Morality and ethics is one of the values that we embrace as a nation. So it’s not just on the mouth, it has to become practical and anything that is contradicting our values, our Christ centered nation, we have declared ourselves as a Christian nation, is not acceptable!” said Sumaili.

“And you know, the good thing is that the people of Zambia themselves who gave themselves those values, they cried out. Peoples’ eyes have now opened and they are embracing these values, and when something contrary shows up, they are able to say no, this is not us as Zambians, this is not what we believe in, this is not what we want to see in our nation. They cry out and they get it, becaasue they are defending their values. The people of Zambia cried out, the people of Zambia said no! This is not just unchristian, it is not also part of our culture. What is it? Should we allow our Children to be exposed to this? The people of Zambia said no, and the constitution defends them.”