BAHATI PF member of parliament Harry Kalaba says as long as he is “within the confinement of the Lord,” manoeuvres by State intelligence to track his church programmes should not worry anybody. And Kalaba caught officers at Kafue Police Station unawares when he made a stopover to “get a permit to go and pray” yesterday morning.

Kalaba arrived at the police station shortly after 07:00 hours and requested a ‘police permit’ from two female officers, who appeared surprised at the request.

“My name is Kalaba Harry. I have come in Kafue and so I came to get a permit to go and pray. Am I allowed to go and pray?”

The officers answered: “Yes, sir.”

He then asked if they would not say that he was “breaking the law with impunity,” to which the officers responded negatively.

“You have to know that I’m a free citizen and I can go and worship wherever I want to worship. But I thought I should first inform the police so that when you hear [that] I’m here, somebody should not say Kalaba is breaking the law with impunity. Thank you very much and God bless you,” Kalaba said and immediately left for Holy Saviour Catholic Parish in Kafue Estates.

And in an interview after mass, Kalaba explained that he was a Christian and that he had an “inescapable responsibility to worship and praise the living Lord Who has made it possible for me to see another day.”

“So, I was happy to be here,” he said.

Asked about constant efforts by State intelligence to track him while in churches in selected parts of the country, Kalaba vowed to continue going to churches without encumbrances from any quarters.

“Under our Constitution, I can pray anywhere I want to pray and what they (the State) say doesn’t concern me. For as long as I’m within the confinement of the Lord, it should not worry anybody – I will not break the law. I will make sure that I operate within the law and worship is part of my Christian inheritance. So I will continue doing that without let or hindrance,” said Kalaba.

Last week, Copperbelt police warned and cautioned Kalaba for staging meetings in the area without a permit.

Copperbelt police commissioner Charity Katanga said Kalaba was using “the so-called Harry Kalaba Movement without following the law” and that police will be “glad to arrest him if he continues”.

She told journalists that Kalaba had been addressing illegal political meetings on the Copperbelt through disguising his presence in the province by going to Churches.

“We called the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Harry Kalaba, in connection with some illegal meetings on the Copperbelt. To our best of knowledge, there is no notification of the meetings – some are public [and] some are indoors – with impunity. It was important for him to be called to the police,” Katanga said.

She added that the Harry Kalaba Movement, a public mass spearheading Kalaba’s 2021 presidential bid, was an illegal organisation because it was not registered with the Registrar of Societies.

“He is using the so-called Harry Kalaba Movement without following the law. This same Kalaba Movement is not registered with [the Registrar of] Societies. We are glad to arrest him if he continues! Today, we just recorded a warn and caution statement from him,” explained Katanga.

Meanwhile, Holy Saviour Parish priest Fr Michael Kambani, in a separate interview, indicated that the Church preached peace and that each human being ought to have peace in their heart.

“This is very important in our lives and in our families and this country. Without peace, there is a lot of contradiction, wars and what not. We have to advocate for peace all the time,” he said.

On why the parish hosted Kalaba, who was deemed critical of the government, Fr Kambani responded: “The Church of Christ – the Catholic Church and the other churches – is open to everyone.”

“Our mission is the salvation of souls and it is not restricted to a Catholic but we are sent to preach to everyone, Catholics and non-Catholics. I have hosted him here not because of any affiliation but [because] he is a Christian and he is free to come and pray. So, him being here shouldn’t be taken as anything political. He is here to pray and we won’t stop anyone from attending mass and pray with us. We have no reason to do that because we are sent to go and save souls,” clarified Fr Kambani.