MMD president Nevers Mumba has rubbished claims that he stole US $360,000 from the Opposition Alliance and that he is involved in activities meant to cause havoc in the country.
And Mumba has reported an online publication, Batoka Times, to ZICTA so that they can trace the proprietors who’ve been spreading fake news.
Meanwhile, Mumba says the National Day of Prayer will turn into a curse for the nation if church leaders begin to put politicians before God.
Last week, Batoka Times published an article where it was alleged that Mumba duped his fellow Opposition Alliance partners by declaring US$40,000 out of the US$400,000 said to be given to him by Kenyan-based law professor Patrick Lumumba whom the publication said is linked to Uganda’s Lords Resistance Army rebel group.
But in an interview, Mumba said the theft allegations levelled against him were mere hallucinations, adding that Prof Lumumba had no connection to the terrorist groups as alleged.
“First of all, if you are referring to the stories by Batoka Bulls, first of all we need to find out who the Batoka Bulls are, and we have found out that they are a PF platform and we have written today to ZICTA to dig them out until we get to the person or persons behind it and then we have informed our lawyers to immediately litigate and take them to court to prove their claim. So, and this whole thing of the opposition, I can only speak for the MMD, that those are hallucinations. Mr Lumumba, in my view, has no connection to any one of the groups they are talking about. So, we are going to take them to court and we will get to the bottom of this because this type of politics is outdated. This thing of trying to defend the names of your opponents as we go towards the elections, we will make sure that we go and have it explained at court. I cannot comment on what Mr Kampyongo said because I didn’t hear what he said, but for the MMD, they know that we are not involved in anything like that,” Mumba said.
Meanwhile, Mumba urged church leaders to be careful not to put men before God, in reference to the National Day of Prayer where some clergymen showered praises on politicians.
“So, the responsibility of the priests, who are the pastors, bishops of our day, is to be very careful that they separate this day from the day of praising political leaders to a day of repenting of national sins and if we don’t do this, this day will become a curse to us. It’s about repentance of our sins, as a nation, not to praise political leadership. We can set up another day, which can be dedicated to praising the works of the President, of the government in place praising the leaders for the job they have done, but not the Day of Prayer, Fasting and Repentance,” he said.
“I was at that event myself and I want to just advise the Church, as a whole, especially bishops, leaders of the Church, to be extremely careful that we place God before man. The Day of Prayer and Repentance on behalf of the country is exactly that, it’s not about an individual, it’s not about the President, it’s about us leaders in the Church taking the country to God and asking for God’s forgiveness for all the injustices, for all the violence, for all the treachery, for all the bitterness we have exchanged with each other and for being brutal against each other and ask God to forgive us, as a nation, that’s the job of the priest.”
He said that just like in the Bible, the Day of Atonement observed by the Israelites was meant for prayer and had nothing to do with the King.
“In the Old Testament, there was a similar day for Israel called the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement came once per year just like the Day of Prayer and Fasting comes once per year in Zambia. The high priest of Israel took all the sins for the past one year and asked God to forgive the nation, it had nothing to do with the king of Israel. The king of Israel didn’t even go into the holy of holies and when they went into the holy of holies as priests, they didn’t mention the king, it was the sins of Israel that they brought before God and if God rejected the prayers of the priest, the price was that the priest would be killed in the holy of holies, he would die,” said Mumba.
One Response
Nevers Mumba should not mislead people by claiming that the National Day of prayer is of spiritual importance to Zambia. The National Day of prayer is a product of a political decision and it is there to serve political interests. The churches in Zambia have become politically active, and with a poorly performing economy, they are are feeling the pinch and what better way of raising resources than to align with the people who control resources? Nevers is a seasoned pastor and probably his ergo was injured when a non pentecostal, and a catholic for that matter, was given the chance to preach at an event that is purely pentecostal. The worst enemy of truth in Zambia today is christianity. Christian leaders have become vuvuzelas of politicians at the expense of the Gospel.