THE Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has warned Lusaka Archbishop Alick Banda against carrying his legion of followers with him as the cleric appears at its offices on Monday morning.
Yesterday, the commission gave the Archbishop a surprise festive ‘gift,’ ordering him to appear at its headquarters.
Addressing journalists in Lusaka this afternoon, DEC director general Nason Banda confirmed that his namesake had been indeed summoned by the commission.
Banda stated that the summon is in connection with a Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Hilux that was gifted to the Archbishop years ago.
The commission’s boss stated that the summon was nothing political and the law enforcement officers were only interested in hearing the archbishop’s side of the story.
He bemoaned the circulation of call outs on social, explaining that a summon was a private document that needed to be shown to a suspect’s lawyers only.
“When there is a case, there are procedures that we follow. These procedures have nothing to do with the status of the target. The rule of law says nobody is above the law. This particular case has been running for some time. We ceased motor vehicles and some people have been convicted because government property was taken away from government and appropriated to individuals.”
“Nothing political, we just want him to give us his side of the story. We are not politicians, we are law enforcement officers, we operate at our own time, in our own space because we have laws that govern our activities. It’s that simple. There is no politics involved,” explained Banda.
He further dismissed social media allegations that government was fighting the Catholic Church, emphasising that nobody was above the law.
“I’m a very devoted Catholic myself, and I was even chairman for my parish and my wife was also a chairperson. I’m from the Lusaka archdiocese myself, his Grace Alick Banda is my Archbishop. No we are not fighting the Catholic Church,” he said.
He expressed shock that when some individuals are given summons, they flood them all over social media, stating that call outs are private documents which should not be shared with the public.
“Posting your summon on social media won’t stop us from asking you questions. No one is above the law.
“As his grace comes on Monday, let him come nicely quietly alone. Don’t bring people that are irrelevant to the case. It was not me who mentioned his name. He was mentioned in court not me. We want him to help us with investigations because he has been mentioned, he’s a Zambian like us, he needs to explain,” said Banda.
Kalemba, January 1, 2026
