Zambia charges Lusaka Archbishop Alick Banda over vehicle; bishops call for due process

Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), which also investigates money laundering and financial crimes, arrested Archbishop Alick Banda of Lusaka on Monday, Sept. 28. The same day, he appeared before a Lusaka magistrate and pleaded not guilty to possessing property reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained. The state-owned Zambia Daily Mail reported that the DEC alleges that between April 2021 and December 2023 he had a Toyota Hilux unlawfully obtained from the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA). It says the vehicle is part of a wider investigation into about 22 ZRA vehicles allegedly disposed of improperly. The Director of Public Prosecutions led the prosecution.

Press reports say the late former President Edgar Lungu gave the archbishop the vehicle, OSV News and Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. Banda, 62, spent a night in custody before meeting bail conditions. OSV News put the bail at about $4,000, and he was ordered to surrender his travel documents. The case returns to court on Oct. 14, and the trial is set to begin Nov. 3.

The Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement on Sept. 28 signed by its president, Archbishop Ignatius Chama of Kasama. It called for fairness, dignity and due process "without prejudice or intimidation." After an extraordinary plenary, the bishops issued another statement on Sept. 30. In it they raised concerns about arbitrary arrests and detention, military personnel in civilian areas, and reports of excessive force, including loss of civilian lives, OSV News reported. On Oct. 1, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) said it trusted that "the competent institutions will discharge their responsibilities in accordance with the law." SECAM noted that the archbishop surrendered the vehicle to the state in December 2023.

AFP reported that Banda was an outspoken supporter of the main opposition challenger in the Aug. 13 election, which returned President Hakainde Hichilema for a second term. AFP called the arrest the latest of several arrests of government critics since the vote. Some analysts link the arrest to his criticism of the government, OSV News reported. The government has not publicly tied the case to politics, and the DEC presents it as part of a vehicle-disposal investigation.