Oblate Bishop Evans Chinyemba OMI of Mongu Diocese says Zambian
politicians lifestyle is about amassing power and wealth and making unrealistic
promises and in the process making the masses of our society powerless, poorer
and live in despair. The Bishop’s challenge is contained in the Easter message.
Here is the excerpt of the message.
Originally Published in Mongu
Diocese Drum Beat – March 2016 Newsletter for Catholic Diocese of Mongu Zambia.
Indeed, Christ is Risen and we
are glad! We are glad because in this resurrection we find the reason for our
hope. What does the total sacrifice of Christ teach us about our lives today?
Are there signs of this total sacrifice in our personal lives, in our
communities, in our families, in our institutions, in our towns, in our
constituencies, and in the country?
The heightened talk about
Zambian politics leads one to ask if our participation in the political affairs
of this nation has anything to do with sacrifice and service. Or rather
politics has become a way of amassing power and wealth and making unrealistic
promises and in the process making the masses of our society powerless, poorer
and live in despair! The teaching of Christ is
clear for us. He taught in parables and in some cases taught through action.
Christ continues to teach us about human salvation.
Let me take education as an
example. Today we see our political system continuing to impoverish our
education system in order to have a bigger population of an uneducated people
who can easily be controlled and cheated. Most of our public schools are a
nightmare. Get a simple census and see if you will find the majority of the
children and close relatives of our politicians in our public schools. They are
either in local private schools or outside the country, leaving the child of a
common woman and man struggling even to have a computer for an exam. Has our
politics sacrificed enough for education! Easter is a story of light, a light
that dims the ignorance of the masses.
We proclaim “Kriste Ki Liseli Luna” meaning Christ our Light. These
words are proclaimed each Easter Vigil. In our context, the light of education
empowers people. Why then should our politics aim at destroying our education
system in so doing perpetuating the poverty of the mind?
We again pick on the example
of health. For a long time now we have not put our health priorities straight.
Have we planned enough for the health sector in the nation? If our national priorities were straight and
were centered on what is best for the nation, our public hospitals could have
been more advanced by now. Yet what we experience is totally different. In the
name of belonging to the global world, Zambians have to depend on most specialized
and advanced treatment outside the county. Is this really a way to go for a
nation that has been independent for more than 50 years!
This Easter, Christ
challenges us to put our priorities straight. Our national priorities should be
based on what is best for the citizen and not what is best for the political
elite! Herein, lays the sacrifice Christ showed his followers. Christ never
sought his own wellbeing but that of His people.
Most of our political leaders
have been politically weighed and found wanting. In the mind of many of our
politicians, it has been observed that they operate with the concept of
impoverishing the masses in order to hold them captive. We see this more and
more when people seeking public office once elected, remember not their
electorate. The electorate has to beg for development, which is rightly theirs.
We have seen and heard situations where the electorates are forced to beg even
for a toilet to be built at their markets. When did a public toilet become a
way of winning votes! This culture is not an Easter culture.
This is a spirit of servitude
which most of our politicians practice in order to hold captive the uninformed
electorate. Pilate wanted to hold Jesus captive, yet the power of God was
greater than that of Pilate. Just like Pilate, some of our politicians want to
hold the electorate captive. This scheme cannot be achieved. Herod and Pilate
became friends in their attempt to destroy Jesus Christ completely, so they
thought.
Many of our politicians have become friends for wrong reasons and not
to bring Zambia to her glory. More and more the Zambian electorate is learning
the cheating art of politics. This said, I am aware of some genuine politicians
who mean well for our nation. This group of politicians who are in the minority
sacrifice their time and energy to doing good for the people without counting
the cost, yet they are often overwhelmed and get swallowed up by selfish
politicians that are in the majority. It is up to the citizens to help selfless
politicians so that they feel affirmed and not get discouraged. To our
politicians, if you are one of those who are selfless and you sacrifice a lot
so that the nation improves, count yourself blessed and continue to model your
life on Christ, the complete oblation of God.
Easter Season is a story of
humanity being liberated from the bond and chaos of sin. Easter Season is a
song that is sung because of the sacrifice, which Christ Jesus made for
humanity. In Easter, Christ is our example
who models the way of sacrifice, freedom, peace, forgiveness, mercy, sharing
and hope. Christ does this not for his own benefit but for the whole of
humanity.
Let Mary Our Mother, the Queen
of the Apostles accompany us as we sacrifice our lives for others. Mary Our
Mother, was present at the Resurrection of Christ, may her experiences help us
to hope in the power of this event in our lives.
Happy Easter and let our
rejoicing during this season be seen in our oblation.
+Bishop Evans Chinyama Chinyemba, O.M.I.
Bishop of Mongu
Zambia
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