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The Bishops Council of Zambia (BCZ) has counseled against political intolerance, hate speech, intimidation, and every form of violence that threatened national unity as the country prepared for the August 13 General Elections.
BCZ Provincial Coordinator for Southern Province, Bishop Maureen Kabwe, emphasized the need to choose dialogue over conflict, love over hatred, and peace over division.
Kabwe made the call during a Peace Advocacy Walk and Interdenominational Prayer Gathering held in Livingstone District of Southern Province.
The event was held under the theme “Walking Together for Peace Before, During and After the General Elections” and brought together government officials, political party representatives, security wings, civil society, and members of the public.
Kabwe said the Church had a sacred responsibility to promote peace, love, unity, tolerance, respect and dialogue among citizens regardless of political affiliation, tribe, race or social status.
“Today, we are sending a strong message that violence has no place in our democracy. We reject political intolerance, hate speech, intimidation, and every form of violence that threatens our national unity,” she stated.
Kabwe described the gathering as prophetic rather than political, and said it was a call to national responsibility for both citizens and people of faith.
She emphasized that peace should be cultivated before campaigns begin, maintained during the electoral process, and preserved after results are announced.
“Our gathering today is therefore not political, but prophetic. It is a call to our national responsibility as citizens and as people of faith. We believe that peace is a gift from God, but it is also a responsibility that every citizen must protect,” she said.
Kabwe commended President Hakainde Hichilema for leading the call for peaceful election campaigns and for stressing the need to maintain peace at all stages of the electoral cycle.
She outlined that prayers during the event focused on peace before, during and after elections, as well as wisdom, integrity and fairness for all electoral stakeholders.
“As Christians, we are called to be peacemakers. Today, we publicly demonstrate that calling by walking together, praying together, and standing together for one Zambia,” Kabwe stated.
On Friday, July 17, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) called on all Zambians to safeguard peace ahead of the August 13, 2026 General Elections, warning that political violence threatened the nation’s democratic gains.
In a pastoral statement issued on July 16, 2026 from Kapingila House in Lusaka, the Bishops said the country stood at a crucial moment and that politics must be understood as service rather than a contest for privilege.
President Hakainde Hichilema later welcomed the Bishops’ pastoral statement on the forthcoming General Elections, describing it as aligned with government’s commitment to peaceful, free and credible polls.
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