By Isaac Salima:
Quasi-religious body the Public Affairs Committee (Pac) and Malawi Council of Churches (MCM) have asked religious leaders to avoid being partisan as the country heads towards the September 16, 2025 Local Government, Parliamentary and Presidential Elections.
Pac spokesperson Gilford Matonga and MCM Board Chairperson Billy Gama were commenting on recent developments, where clerics from Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP)’s Blantyre and Nkhoma synods held prayers at former president Peter Mutharika’s residence in Mangochi District.
“The country’s Constitution allows freedom of association.
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“However, we have to do that cautiously because religious leaders are supposed to be non partisan. We are not people [who have] to demonstrate favouritism but promote unity. Showing our political party affiliation should be condemned,” he said
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Matonga further said the clergy had to be mindful that they served people of varying political party affiliation.
“It is quite shameful when you go [to prayer sessions] in the name of a particular denomination and the denomination disowns you,” he said.
Gama echoed Matonga’s sentiments on the need for religious leaders to be careful in the way they handle themselves before politicians.
However, Gama said there was no problem for religious leaders to be praying and interacting with a politicians.
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“There is nothing wrong with that. Religious leaders have a mandate [to advance the cause of] pastoral care and this is not limited to political leaders but civil society or even traditional leaders as well,” he said.
On Tuesday, some pastors from Nkhoma Synod held prayers at Mutharika’s Page House in Mangochi.
But Nkhoma Synod has since disowned some of the clergy, saying they do not belong to them.
A letter signed by general secretary Vasco Kachipapa indicates that only six of its clergy attended the prayers.
“The truth of the matter is that out of 267 CCAP Nkhoma Synod church ministers, only six were part of the delegation. Five are serving in different congregations, one retired and one was dismissed in 2020. These people went to Page House not as Nkhoma Synod but as part of a pastoral fraternity they joined in their own right,” the letter reads.
The development comes at a time Blantyre Synod recently summoned some clerics who attended prayers at Mutharika’s house recently.
In February this year, 71 clerics under Blantyre Synod conducted a prayer session at Mutharika’s Page House.
The meeting seems to have not gone down well with the synod authorities, who on April 11, 2025, summoned chairperson for the organising committee for the trip, Reverend Chikondi Banda, to a hearing.
Banda was accompanied by five other pastors who testified during the hearing.
Speaking after appearing before the committee, Banda said they were questioned about how they conducted themselves during the prayers.
“Like myself, I was charged with three counts.
One is that I shouted ‘DPP woyee’ at the meeting. The second one was that I uttered words in an audio clip that attacked synod management and the third one was that I conducted myself in an unwanted way during the prayers. I have denied all the charges,” Banda said.
He said the committee wanted to hear from him on why he acted in that way.
“We have responded well and we are just waiting for a verdict on this. I do not know why they have targeted me, maybe because I [allegedly] attacked them in the audio. They are not specifically against us going to Page House but only [questioning us] on how we conducted ourselves. I do not know why they are separating the issues,” Banda said.
Another cleric, Reverend Kingsley Maulana from Matope CCAP Church under Mangochi Presbytery, said they had given their side of the story on the matter.
“We came here as witnesses for our colleague. He had denied the charges and we have all testified on that. We went there for prayers only. Dr Mutharika’s family is our member and we went to our fellow Christians,” Maulana said.
Chairperson for the disciplinary committee, Reverend Joseph Thipa, confirmed the development.
“Yes, we called them for a hearing and we have heard from them. We just wait to submit a report to our superiors, who will come up with a final decision on the matter,” he said.
At the time, Democratic Progressive Party spokesperson Shadric Namalomba described the summoning of the clerics as regrettable.
“This is an infringement on the right to association. People should not be targeted because they have demonstrated their right to association. Let us not comment much at this stage but this is very unfortunate for a church to take this direction,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nkhoma Synod has indicated that it is looking into the issue.
