. Tutu

By CHARLES SIMENGWA –
IT has long been noted that much of Africa has gone up in flames because of impulsive leadership.
Most leaders have failed to unite their fractious countries, having watched seemingly unimportant conflicts deepen without taking decisive steps to halt them.
It is something of a laissez-faire attitude, and the price has been too heavy to bear, more so for displaced families.
Unmanageable countries have been tagged as a global burden because it is not easy to mend fences between their warring factions.
By declaring October 18 as the day for repentance, prayers and fasting for Zambia, President Edgar Lungu is demonstrating the cardinal point that peace should not be taken for granted.
The declaration brings to the fore the weightiness of prevention rather than of a cure.
In the absence of physical violence, it is possible to become complacent and forget that there are some recalcitrant groups aiming to reverse the successes so far recorded.
It is just as well that Mr Lungu appreciates the challenges Zambians are facing, which make the declaration for prayers and fasting unavoidable.
The high unemployment among the youth, high poverty levels, Kwacha depreciation and power deficit are trouble spots tagging at the hearts of many citizens, and so is the uncharitable language being used in national issues.
Some peace scholars refer to economic hardships which are driven by classes in society as structural violence, which is a potential hotbed of revolt and dissension if it is ignored.
The decision to set aside a day for prayers will, therefore, fortify Zambia’s peace.
The fact that many people beyond the clerical divide requested for a special day to reflect on the country’s social, political, and economic situation further buoys up this settlement.
There is, however, a clarion call to all Zambians to commit themselves to genuine dialogue that should ultimately feed into prayers for the country.
Some observers have argued that talk of unity would be nothing more than a charade if political leaders, who have been treating one another with disrespect or scornful abuse, do not repent.
Put differently, there should be genuine attempts by all the people to treasure peace before and after the day set for prayers.
Vice-President Inonge Wina has appealed to the Scripture Union of Zambia (SUZ) and Church mother bodies to spread the President’s message on reconciliation and forgiveness across the country.
Ms Wina said Zambia could not expect meaningful development if the citizens did not commit themselves to peace.
She said in Lusaka, during a thanksgiving church service organised by SUZ, that Zambia should be anchored on the word of God in order for meaningful change to be recorded.
Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) executive director Boniface Chembe told some sections of the media that his organisation was certain that violence would come to an end if Zambians committed themselves to prayers and fasting genuinely.
Mr Chembe said SACCORD welcomed the pronouncement by the President and was hopeful that political parties would take practical measures to prevent political violence.
He was also happy with Mr Lungu’s directive to the Ministry of Justice to speed up the process of reforming the Public Order Act, which has been a source of tension in the country.
The Christian Coalition similarly welcomed the national day of prayer and fasting.
Coalition President, Charles Mwape said prayer was a ‘powerful tool’ that could be used to deal with any challenges Zambia was facing.
Dr Mwape said leaders should draw their wisdom to govern the nation from prayers, and appealed to all the congregations across the country to ask God to heal the country.
Independent Churches of Zambia president David Masupa says it is important for the people of Zambia to live in unity and love, and that this can only be attained through prayers.
There are vital lessons Zambians could learn from countries such as Rwanda, which have experienced treacherous times and healing came at a high cost.
Eugenia Zorbas, the author of ‘Towards Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda: Taking Stock’, writes that justice and reconciliation are concepts difficult to define, let alone achieve.
What may seem just for a community or a country may be unjust for a victim. There seems to be a tension between reconciliation, implying a kind of moral compromise, and justice in the strict, Western, prosecutorial sense in which it is usually used.
In the wake of violence on a societal scale, finding the right balance between justice and reconciliation, or between retribution and forgiveness, is an extremely delicate process, and this is all the more so in cases of genocide.
“In the Great Lakes region, where today’s oppressors tend to perceive themselves as yesterday’s victims, justice and reconciliation become even more subjective and difficult goals,” Zorbas, who worked in Rwanda between 2002 and 2003, writes.
Since Zambia is a Christian Nation, it may be necessary to draw the attention of the people to Biblical teachings on reconciliation and forgiveness.
Paul’s use of the word reconciliation to describe God’s movement towards men implies that there was the need for an end to enmity, animosity, or malice.
God’s communication with His creation had been disrupted, and the connection broken. Isaiah 59:2 states: “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that He does not hear.”
Radical repair was necessary in order for God to again show His love for people. This radical repair came in the form of Christ’s death on the cross.
Some questions raised by author Rod Mays suggest that dialogue should be ongoing even in situations perceived to be peaceful.
Mays, in ‘The Necessity of Reconciliation’, writes: “Why do relationships have to be so complicated? Why do good friends get “wrapped around the axle” with each other? Why do family members become so alienated they may not speak to one another for years?
“It is because we are sinners who are, by nature, enemies of God and of each other. However, the message of the Gospel is the message of reconciliation”
The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences states that reconciliation, which is the overcoming of differences, and the healing of broken relations, is initially a religious concept addressed in the Hebrew Bible, and especially in the New Testament.
It has acquired wider meaning in the context of the wars and violence of the 20th Century. In the Hebrew Bible, the term kiffer was used in the context of animal ritual sacrifice. Propitiation of God was the objective.
Propitiation is the act of appeasing or making well-disposed a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding divine retribution.
Saint Paul, especially in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 and in Romans 5:10, raises this concept to the level of restoration to the favour of God for sinners who repent and put their trust in the expiatory death of Christ.
But the term refers not only to such reconciliation with God but also to the task of reconciliation with other persons as a primary requirement for the followers of Christ.
According to Matthew 5:23-24: “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”
As Zambians ponder the invitation to prayers and fasting for the country, it is perhaps time to reflect on a proponent of reconciliation, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s famous quotes.
The quotes include: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
“Don’t raise your voice. Improve your argument. Good sense does not always lie with the loudest shouters, nor can we say that a large, unruly crowd is always the best arbiter of what is right.”
Those who are desperate to slight the declaration of October 18 as the day for repentance, prayers and fasting for Zambia should, therefore, reconsider their positions.