Wednesday, July 7, 2010

CCAP's Livingstonia Synod joins politics

By Diana Liabuba

The Livingstonia Synod of the CCAP says it will support formation of any party that would champion the views it is propagating and use the region as its base.

This comes in the wake of reports that some politicians from the region are planning to register a political party.

“As a synod, we will always talk of politics. We are here to monitor issues affecting people and would advocate any ideas that would enhance political development in any form be it formulation of a new party,” said the synod’s general secretary Rev. Maurice Munthali.

He said that the synod would only play an advisory role to those forming the new party.

Munthali said the church sees no problem with the party having its base in the northern region, adding that this does not mean that the party is regional.

He said problems would arise if the new party was made personal as the aim of those political platforms is to represent people that follow it not serve individuals.

“I am actually happy that people have noticed how much we are putting efforts in issues affecting northern region. It is not being regionalistic but rather domestic because there is no way we can start speaking of regions when we know that charity begins at home,” said Munthali

“We are only beginning here because we are the type of people that vote for any party without looking at its base,” he said

Attempts to have a party with a strong following in the northern region come at the time that the Alliance for Democracy (Aford), which in the early 1990s commanded a huge following in the region, has been losing ground.

Recently there have been numerous attempts to mobilize people in the North to rally one political grouping but such have not yet borne the much needed fruits.

Some people in the region believe that northern region needs a strong political party and the Livingstonia Synod of the CCAP has expressed willingness to help formation of such a party-The Daily Times.