Lusaka, 11 August, 2021 / 8:00 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has called upon leading presidential candidates in Zambia to espouse values that foster human life and “safeguard peace” in the Southern African country regardless of the outcome of the general elections scheduled to take place Thursday, August 12.
“JCTR is appealing to the two leading presidential contestants to uphold human dignity, protect the sanctity of life, and safeguard peace, socio-political and economic stability of this country regardless of the outcome of the elections,” officials of the research institute based in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, say in a statement published Monday, August 9.
In the statement signed by JCTR Executive Director, Fr. Alex Muyebe, they add, “Whoever will come out a loser must respect the will of the Zambian people with dignity and decency.”
Additionally, the Jesuit scholars urge whoever will emerge as the winner of the presidential poll to accept “the outcome with humility, sense of duty and service.”
President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, a member of The Patriotic Front (PF), and Hakainde Hichilema, the current opposition leader and leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), are reportedly the main contenders in the presidential polls.