Ruling UPND justifies probe of Archbishop Banda, says DEC summon not about Catholic church but an individual

UPND Media Director, Mark Simuuwe, has reaffirmed that relations between the Catholic Church and the government remained cordial, urging the public to distinguish between the actions of individual clergy and the Catholic Church as an institution.

In a statement issued in Lusaka on Friday, Simuuwe said law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), had a constitutional and legal obligation to investigate matters brought before them.

He counseled that the ongoing investigations involving Lusaka Catholic Archbishop Alick Banda should be viewed as part of due process and allowed to proceed without political or religious interpretation.

Simuuwe quoted Archbishop Banda’s own words that “a wrong is a wrong no matter who is involved,” stressing that alleged personal omissions by individual clergy should not be used to implicate or discredit the Catholic Church.

“The cases taken to court by the State are supported by sufficient evidence, leading to prosecution and, where appropriate, conviction,” Simuuwe said.

He argued that no innocent person is serving a prison sentence without the courts having first determined the matter.

Simuuwe emphasized that the name of the Catholic Church should not be dragged into cases allegedly committed in an individual capacity, noting that it is the responsibility of the courts to determine whether government property can lawfully be given as a personal gift and whether any crime was committed.

“The Economic and Financial Crimes Court has lived up to its mandate, particularly in the areas of forfeiture and asset recovery,” he said.

On governance, Simuuwe argued that the UPND government had remained faithful to its mandate of delivering economic transformation and was actively addressing challenges such as the energy crisis.

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