ANXIOUS hearts were calmed yesterday as Zambia Police opted for restraint when Lusaka Archdiocese Archbishop Dr Alick Banda appeared before the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), a posture that has earned rare praise from opposition-inclined lawyer Simon Mwila.
Mwila, said many Zambians watched the Archbishop’s appearance with clenched jaws, not because the cleric should be above the law, but because past encounters between citizens and law enforcement during politically sensitive moments have often ended in blood and tears.
However, unlike the dark chapters many still carry in memory, police officers yesterday chose a different script.
There were no baton charges, no trigger-happy scenes and no unnecessary use of force as officers maintained order while the situation threatened to boil over.
According to Mwila, instructions were issued, lines were drawn and the tense moment was managed without spiralling into the kind of disorder that has previously left families counting coffins by nightfall.
He said it was impossible to view yesterday’s conduct without being dragged back to the Patriotic Front era when policing of public and political events was synonymous with fear.
Mwila recalled the deaths of Mapenzi Chibulo, a young woman shot dead during political unrest, and Nsama Nsama Chipyoka, a public prosecutor whose life was cut short in circumstances that, he said, should never occur in a country governed by law.
“These were not statistics but human beings. Families were shattered and trust in institutions was deeply damaged,” Mwila noted.
He said for that reason, the conduct of the police during Archbishop Banda’s DEC appearance deserved acknowledgement.
Before availing himself to the DEC headquarters over a Toyota Hilux he dubiously received as a gift from his PF comrades back in 2021, Archbishop Dr Alick Banda with the help of opposition leaders rounded up scores of supporters and gathered them in the Cathedral of the Child Jesus for a solidarity mass where they prayed for him to find strength as he faced the authorities.
After the hour-long service, the priest, dressed in a black clerical robe and a purple zucchetto (hat), led his supporters on foot to the DEC offices, singing hymns and reciting the Hail Mary and the Lord’s Prayer as they marched towards the premises of the commission.
However, as the procession neared the DEC offices, police officers intercepted the group and only allowed the Archbishop, three priests and three lawyers, leaving the rest of the faithful stranded along the road.
When approached by journalists for a comment after the DEC appearance the Archbishop remained mute.
By George Musonda
Kalemba, January 6, 2026
