Church Mother Bodies in Chingola and Chililabombwe districts on the Copperbelt have distanced themselves from a statement issued by their counterparts suggesting that 21 clergymen in the district want Vedanta resources to return to Konkola Copper Mines(KCM).
The Church Mother Bodies including the Council of Churches in Zambia(CCZ), Bishops Council, Pastors Association and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia(EFZ) among others, have told Phoenix News in a statement that their fellow clergy spoke for themselves and not all church leaders in the two districts.
They have disclosed that the church in Chingola and Chililabombwe is still against the return of Vedanta Mineral Resources to KCM and that this was made clear at a meeting held in the district early this year and was attended by three cabinet ministers.
The church leaders in the two districts say they are opposed to the retake of KCM by Vedanta mineral resources because it was not honouring any of its obligations to the government of Zambia and the people of Chingola and Chililabombwe, for bringing poverty and misery to the 2 mining towns by not paying local suppliers and contractors as well as the failure by the company to do any corporate social responsibility among other reasons.
They have since demanded that should government return Vedanta resources at KCM, they should sign a new legal framework that will compel them to sign a clear, definite corporate social responsibility contract with the residents of Chingola and Chililabombwe and ensure that casualization is abolished while a review of paying of suppliers on time should be done.
Some pastors purporting to be representing a consortium of 21-churches from Chingola and Chililabombwe districts on the Copperbelt this week held a media briefing in Lusaka where they appealed to the government to allow Vedanta resources reinvest in KCM saying the good mining policies of the UPND will compel the infamous company to adhere to rules and regulations of the country.
