By DELPHINE ZULU and REBECCA MUSHOTA –
MMD president Nevers Mumba says Zambians must not divert their energies to debate on who called for the national day of prayer and fasting because God is greater than President Edgar Lungu.
Commenting on the raging debate on the day of national prayer, Dr Mumba said it did not matter who declared such a day but that all Zambians must respect it if they truly believed in God because it had been done in good faith.

. Mumba

Dr Mumba said such decisions should be taken seriously by all who called themselves Christians unless they did not understand the essence of setting a day of prayer and fasting.
“Our position over this issue is that God is sovereign to the one who declares such a day and that we are all his creation and cannot do without God. Zambia needs to look up to God for every situation,” he said.
President Lungu has declared October 18, 2015 as a day of national repentance, prayer and fasting.
Dr Mumba said in an interview that people should not concentrate on who called for such a day as it mattered less but called on all regardless of political affiliation to participate in asking God for guidance.
Dr Mumba said it was not a secret that Zambia needed a day of national prayer and fasting for guidance, protection and reconciliation as it would be beneficial to all Zambians and not individuals.
In a related development, the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has said Zambians need to plead to God to save the country from the challenges it is facing.
CCZ general secretary Suzanne Matale said yesterday that it was not enough for Christians to feel the pain for the nation but that Zambians needed to act by praying as a nation.
Reverend Matale was speaking at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Lusaka during the Mind Transformation Conference.
“Christians should take the lead. It is not enough to feel the pain but we need to act,” she said.
Rev Matale said the Church needed to take the lead in guiding the nation on prayer and morality.
She said that as much as Zambia was facing many troubles, it was important for people to go through these troubles with civility and humility.
Meanwhile, Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) youths have called on all Zambians to participate in the national day of prayer and fasting on October 18 this year.
FDD Copperbelt youth chairperson, Cephas Musonda said at the weekend that all Zambians must participate in prayer because the country needed healing.
Mr Musonda said President Lungu’s declaration of the day of prayer and fasting was in good faith and timely because the country needed to seek God’s help.
He said the country was facing many challenges that needed God’s intervention.
Mr Musonda said it was unfortunate that some opposition politicians had taken the move by President Lungu to call for prayer and fasting as an opportunity to gain politically.
“The day of prayer and fasting must not be politicised by anyone but must be supported by all Zambians.
“We truly need God in Zambia and proper reconciliation among all leaders,” he said.