GOVT, CHURCH ARE PARTNERS – LUNGU

By SANFROSSA MANYINDA                                 I HAVE no apology for belonging to the church and all those that want to estrange the church from government and government from the church are bound to fail, President Edgar Lungu has said. Mr Lungu said no government would work on its own without the church stressing that the church was there to offer guidance. He said the church and the government needed to work hand in hand so that they could see how best the people could be served. Mr Lungu observed that there were some people that opposed everything that the government did for the church, a situation he said was unfortunate. The head of state was speaking when he met the clergy from different denominations in Luanshya yesterday. ” There are detractors who just like saying things for the sake of saying them. ” When we suggested the day of national day of prayer and reconciliation people said things and when we suggested that we construct a national place of worship people still said things but we will not forget that we are fortified by Jesus Christ who was also opposed,” he said. President Lungu maintained that there was no way the government and the church could be separable when they fished from the same pond. He said that the people that the church was trying to save  were the same people that the government was trying to serve, hence, the need to work together. President Lungu further called on the church to scrutinize all those aspiring for the highest office in the country to establish what their true motives were. He observed that some of the people that were aspiring for Presidency did not mean well and that this could be seen through their actions. President Lungu has also advised the church to sit down politicians and counsel them whenever something wrong was noticed for the sake of peace.