ZCID, Church derailing dialogue- UPND

They actually have handed such a process before. ZCID includes all of us, so we need a neutral body to lead this process and ensure that everything we agree on is correctly implemented.” — Mr Katuka.

THE squabbles between the three church mother bodies and Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID) on national dialogue are just derailing the whole process, United Party for National Development (UPND) secretary general Stephen Katuka has said. And Mr Katuka has accused ZCID of having a hidden agenda with regards the proposed national dialogue. Mr Katuka emphasised the need to expedite the dialogue process so that amicable resolutions could be reached before the next general elections. He told the Daily Nation that stakeholders had agreed that the church would spearhead the process and ZCID to provide the secretarial services.. Mr Katuka reiterated that the disagreements between the church and ZCID were uncalled for and would just endanger the whole process. He said that national dialogue was bigger than any stakeholder and that the two should quickly find an amicable solution and commence the process. Mr Katuka pointed out that all other stakeholders had shown commitment to dialogue and settlement on a roadmap for the process. “All this pin pointing at this time is not necessary, what we should be looking at is that the process has delayed. Next year it will be 2019 and soon we will find ourselves in the election period. So there is no need for squabbles, we all agreed that the church will spearhead and ZCID is a stakeholder,” he said. And Mr Katuka accused ZCID of having a hidden agenda with regards the proposed national dialogue. He said that ZCID should have engaged the three church mother bodies on its concerns instead of running to the media. Mr Katuka said that the church was more capable of handling the national dialogue as it had the necessary experience and manpower, compared to ZCID. He however emphasised that ZCID should remain a stakeholder in the process even as the church takes up the spearheading role. “ZCID handed over the whole process to the church, and we have all agreed that they lead the process. They actually have handed such a process before. ZCID includes all of us, so we need a neutral body to lead this process and ensure that everything we agree on is correctly implemented,” said Mr Katuka.