JUSTICE Minister Given Lubinda says as the country heads towards elections, politicians should let their messages sell them, adding that they can’t sell themselves by injuring others or giving people money in exchange for votes.

And Lubinda says those in the habit of hiding behind social media to insult others should watch the space with the coming of a cyber security and cyber-crimes bill.

Lubinda was speaking when he attended a church service at Reformed Church in Zambia (RCZ) in Matero on Sunday.

The Justice Minister urged the church and his fellow politicians to be peaceful as the country heads towards elections.

“Peace shall not exist in the country if first of all it does not exist in the family. And peace shall not exist in the family if it does not exist in the heart. It has to start here. Are you at peace? If you are not at peace you should know that you are contributing to an environment of hate. And it is out of hate that despondency arises. We are going into elections and muntu wa mene aona ati me I want to be a politician to serve sazapaya, iyayi, saza boola wina linso (a person who sees that he wants to be a politician to serve, will not kill, he will not poke someone’s eye),” Lubinda said.

“Let us be peaceful. This is the message that I have for you as a church but it’s a message that I also have for my fellow politicians. And I am talking to politicians across the political divide. You can’t go and sell yourself by injuring others. You can’t go and sell yourself by making people drunk. You can’t go and sell yourself by putting money in people ‘to say I’m giving you money for you to vote for me’ no. Let your message sell you.”

And Lubinda said those in the habit of hiding behind social media to insult others should watch the space with the coming of a cyber security and cyber-crimes bill.

He also urged Zambians to use social media to build and not to destroy.

“Last Friday, His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu delivered his address to the nation on the achievement of the national principles and values. He said a number of things. One was the tendency by a lot of us to engage in profanity, in insults, in ridicule using a very important instrument of development, social media. These days when you open social media, instead of receiving stories about how to grow mango, how to rear chickens, how to pass exams, tibelenga nkani zoipa (we are reading about bad news). Sometimes I say to myself, happy are those of us who were born before computers. Because I don’t know whether my society would have managed me the way it did. It is a duty for all of us to protect those young minds. Let us use social media to build. Let us not use it to destroy,” Lubinda said.

“I want to emphasise what the President said, the law on cyber crime, cyber protection is coming. And those of you who have been hiding behind social media to insult others, watch the space. We can’t have a country where people, everyday, their job is to insult their friends. Creating anger in the country all the time. Please use social media to preach the word of God and to encourage happiness and joy in the society.”

Meanwhile, Lubinda urged the church members to impart Christ- like values in the children.

“As a member of parliament, I’m useless if I’m only a member of parliament in Parliament but I stop being a member of parliament when I leave Parliament. It is my duty to be a member of parliament, more so outside than inside. What I say in Parliament I must also do outside Parliament. If I say in parliament ‘no corruption’, I must mean it in my deeds, I must mean it in what I do and how I conduct myself with others. That is the same for us in church. Those children that we have enrolled today are in our custody all of us. Let us ensure that we are imparting Christ like values in the children,” said Lubinda.