NATIONAL Restoration Party (NAREP) president Elias Chipimo has urged outspoken cleric Father Frank Bwalya to concentrate on his 40-day retreat and have sufficient time to listen to his God.
Mr Chipimo said yesterday when responding to questions from journalists during a briefing at his secretariat in Lusaka that the prelate should complete his retreat before engaging in public discussions.
He was not surprised that Fr Bwalya decided to resign as Zesco Limited Board chairperson because he personally knew him and had even asked him whether he was sure about taking up the position when he was appointed at the power utility firm.
The opposition leader said Fr Bwalya could not claim to be on a retreat when on the other hand he was allowing journalists to have access to him in the middle of his retreat.
“I would advise Fr Bwalya to do what he said he would do that is to remain on retreat and stay silent for 40 days. You cannot have a situation where you are on retreat but every journalist has access to you and in the middle of your retreat you decide to give interviews. What kind of retreat is that,” Mr Chipimo asked.
He, however, said Fr Bwalya was welcome to join NAREP if he so wished.
His party, he added, would not embrace insults, name calling but would continue offering constructive advice on issue-based politics.
Meanwhile, Mr Chipimo has demanded that Government compensates his party KR30,000 for wrongfully detaining him last week.
Mr Chipimo, who described his brief detention as a simple baptism, said he was not surprised that as an opposition political party leader, he was subjected to what he termed ‘abnormal society.’
He said he would make a decision on whether or not to sue the Government after the conclusion of investigations of his alleged unlawful assembly.
He said Zambia was facing a political, social and economic crisis, saying the country had no official roadmap for the Constitution-making process.
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