Response of the United Church of Zambia to the Conflict Generated by the Barotseland Agreement and the Associated 2010-2011 Shooting Incidents Involving the Linyungandambo Activists

Derrick Kalanga; Gosnell L. Yorke; Rosemary Chilufya

Derrick Kalanga Dag Hammarskjold Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Gosnell L. Yorke Copperbelt University
Rosemary Chilufya Copperbelt University

Keywords: Barotseland Agreement, Church, Conflict, Government, Reconciliation, United Church of Zambia, Violence, Zambia.

Abstract

This article investigates the role of the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) in fostering national reconciliation amidst the conflicts arising from the Barotseland Agreement between 2010 and 2011. The purpose of this study was to enhance understanding of the UCZ's impact on helping to prevent socio-economic and political conflicts from escalating into violence. Employing a qualitative methodology, the research involved individual and group interviews with diverse respondents including members of the Barotseland Agreement activists among whom were also members of the UCZ; current leaders of the UCZ; some political leaders and scholars who were also members of the UCZ during the conflict as well as leaders of the Church Mother Bodies. Data was analyzed through simultaneous coding, content analysis, and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the UCZ largely failed to engage meaningfully in the reconciliation process, exhibiting partiality and a lack of strategic planning, which resulted in its perceived role as a silent bystander during the conflict induced by the Barotseland Agreement. The study identified inefficiencies in the church's prophetic voice, suggesting that it did not adequately fulfill its moral obligation to promote peace and justice as authorized by its own Constitution. Ultimately, this work aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the UCZ's potential in peacebuilding and its capacity to influence national peace and reconciliation issues in Zambia. The study ends by making several recommendations including: the need for UCZ to adopt a policy of neutrality during national conflicts, develop a strategic plan for national reconciliation, and develop a platform for national dialogue with the government.

Author Biographies

Derrick Kalanga, Dag Hammarskjold Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies

a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Candidate at the Copperbelt University in the Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (DHIPS), holds a Master of Arts degree in Ecumenical Theology from Bonn University, Germany, and a Bachelor of Theology degree from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He has also done some studies in the Bible and feminism at St. Steven’s College, Canada. His research interests focus mostly on the role of the Church in national reconciliation and, more broadly, on the relationship between the church and the state. He is an ordained minister with extensive experience in the United Church of Zambia where he has served in various Presbyteries on the Copperbelt. Currently, he serves at Chiwempala Congregation in Chingola.

Gosnell L. Yorke, Copperbelt University

holds a Master’s and a PhD Degree in Religious and Biblical Studies from McGill University, Canada, where he also spent two years full-time at the McGill Law School. Before that, he had also earned degrees at the University of the Southern Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago and at Andrews University, USA. He holds a Post-doctoral Certificate in Linguistics from the University of South Africa where he served as an Extraordinary Professor in both the College of Human Sciences and in the Institute for African Renaissance Studies, now part of the Thabo Mbeki School of Public and International Affairs. His research interests include the translation of the Bible into African languages, the nexus between religion and governance, and the human rights of people of African descent. Since 2015, he has been lecturing in the Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (DHIPS) at the Copperbelt University where, currently, he is serving as Coordinator of the Lusaka Branch Office of DHIPS. He is also a Research Fellow in the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa at Wilfrid Laurier University Canada

Rosemary Chilufya, Copperbelt University

is a Research Fellow and Lectures at the Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (DHIPS) at Copperbelt University. She coordinates postgraduate matters in DHIPS. Her research interests encompass the different dimensions of peace and conflict, religion, and conflict. She has published works on election administration assessment, peace and conflict, and human security. She supervises research projects of students at various academic levels. She is an alumnus of the University of Zambia, the University for Peace in Costa Rica, and the University of Huddersfield in the UK.