Lusaka – President Edgar Lungu of Zambia on Friday held talks with Catholic Bishops in a move aimed at promoting dialogue in order to ease tension in the southern African nation following the 2016 disputed elections.
Presidential spokesperson Amos Chanda said Lungu met 12 bishops from the Zambia Council for Catholic Bishops at State House during the meeting which lasted one hour.
The presidential spokesperson said Lungu held fruitful discussions with the bishops who also granted them permission to hold a meeting with leading opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema who has been in detention for about three months after he was arrested and charged with treason.
The request was granted after the bishops requested that they be allowed to have access to the opposition leader in a spirit of promoting dialogue in order to engage him on the need to commit to a civil political process in addressing matters of national concern.
Zambia has witnessed heightened political tension following last year’s general elections, whose outcome the leading opposition party has rejected, citing fraud.
The tension was exacerbated following the arrest of the main opposition leader in April.
The country has witnessed damage to key public properties, including the setting on fire of markets, forcing the Zambian leader to declare a threatened state of emergency through invoking Article 31 of the constitution in order to allow security agencies to deal with threats of arson.
On Tuesday, Hichilema called for unconditional dialogue to ease the tension in the country.
He said time has come for all stakeholders to put their differences aside for the good of the nation.(NAN)