Anglican Church, UN Urge Zambia to Respect Due Process Amid Opposition Detentions

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa is calling for prayers for Zambia and her people in the wake of the country's disputed election, and particularly for healing, reconciliation and unity. We are deeply disturbed at the detention of a number of opposition figures, including Bishop Trevor Mwamba, the retired Anglican Bishop of Botswana and a Zambian national who now leads Zambia's United National Independence Party (UNIP). We add our voices to that of the UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk, who has called on Zambian authorities to end arbitrary arrests and respect due process. Other groups including the European Union, the African Union, SADC and the Commonwealth have also voiced concern. Bishop Mwamba is a widely respected theologian across the world-wide Anglican Communion. Among those who have expressed concern at his arrest is his wife, Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, formerly a Botswana diplomat and a Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General from 2008 to 2014. She raised the alarm after Bishop Mwamba disappeared without explanation for a number of days, before it was revealed he was being detained at a Lusaka police station. We pray for all those opposition figures held in various police stations in Lusaka. We strongly appeal to the Zambian authorities to allow them access to decent sanitation, reading material and other human necessities. We pray for dialogue among all parties and that the democratically-expressed wishes of the people of Zambia will be respected in a united nation. The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba Archbishop and Metropolitan Read the original article on ACSA . Zambia's President, Hichilema, Sworn in for Second Term AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily from over 90 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.