President Edgar Lungu has asked the clergy to keep praying for politicians even though they sometimes go to church to fool them.

And President Lungu says has promised to donate a bus to the newly constructed Chati South Boarding Secondary School in Kalulushi so that pupils and teachers can be going into town “to see what is happening”.

Speaking when he attended a church service at Pentecostal Holiness Church of Zambia in Chambishi, Sunday, President Lungu asked the church to ignore what politicians say “out there” and continue praying for them.

“I wish to encourage you to continue praying for us because it is your job. Keep praying for us and don’t get tired, don’t listen to what is being said outside. We are your people and we are here to listen to the word of God. Show us the way of the Christ because that is your calling. Don’t be swayed by what we say outside, we are just part of the bigger flock. Some of us are politicians, some are lawyers, some a doctors, some are engineers, but we as lawyers know what law is and as Christians you have to guide us. We as politicians, we know how politics is but you as Christians have to guide us to Christ. It’s not easy being politicians. The other thing I want to tell you is that twalafula, we are going to be many as we go towards 2021. Mwalamona twalaisa. (You will see us come). Ndetila nati (I am saying that), we will come in numbers because we know that in church kuti mwatupepelako twakata ishuko (you can pray for us so that we can get lucky),” President Lungu said.

“I have been in politics, to a good number of you, since 2011 when I was elected in Chawama, but I have been with Christ for a longer period so I know what I am talking about. Ilafika inshita yakwisa kolongana pamo nokulomba ati, ushe tamwatupepeleko ifwe fwebama politics pakuti batusale. So imwe kula pepafye, nangu twaisa mukumisetin’ga kula pepafye. (Times comes when we will all come to you as politicians asking you to pray for us so that we get elected. So you should just pray for us even if we just come to fool you, you must pray for us). You should also pray for the rest of the people of Zambia to have the wisdom to examine if the people they want to vote for are genuine or wolves in sheep’s skin. So you must pray for us of us and for the people so that they can choose the right leadership. Zambia needs credible worthwhile leaders who can see this country to higher heights, not opportunists who just want to come a ride on the belief that they are called Christians. Pray that Christians know who to choose and who to lose in 2021.”

And speaking during the commissioning of the newly constructed Chati South Boarding Secondary School in Kalulushi, President Lungu pledged a bus.

“I slept three times as we were coming here from Kitwe, and I kept asking how far we are. When I dosed the fourth time they told me “we have now arrived”. So I have seen the distance that is there from here to town, so I will give you a bus so that once in a while you can be going to town to see what is happening,” he said.

He said education was a key driver of national development.

“Believe it or not, the commissioning of this school is an indication that my administration believes that education is the key driver of national development. This development we are witnessing today is also a manifestation of the importance my administration attaches to programmes aimed at empowering the learners by providing them with quality and equitable education,” said President Lungu.

“In a bid to mitigate the shortage of space in our secondary schools, my government, through the Ministry of (General) Education embarked on the construction of 115 secondary schools countrywide. To date, 68 secondary schools have been constructed, covering all the 10 provinces in the country. Here on the Copperbelt, 6 new secondary schools are being constructed and four of them have been completed. I am glad that this school is one of them. In addition to the 115 secondary schools, 82 more secondary schools are being constructed across the country with help from the world bank.”