{"id":1247,"date":"2026-03-25T15:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2026-03-25T15:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:11:16","slug":"1247","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/1247\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>PRESS STATEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CCZ COMMENDS COLLECTIVE SOLIDARITY IN THE MURDER CASE OF MRS. HELLEN KAMUTUMBE IN KALUMBILA DISTRICT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) commends the collective solidarity demonstrated by both the Government and citizens following the tragic murder of Mrs. Hellen Kamutumbe, a mother of six who was brutally killed by a mob at Kisasa Market in Kalumbila District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We reaffirm that such barbaric acts have no place in our nation and severely dent our identity as a Christian nation. It is deeply unfortunate that members of the public resorted to venting their frustrations on an innocent citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are reminded in Scripture that \u201cSo God created mankind in His own image\u201d (Genesis 1:27), a powerful affirmation that every human life carries God-given dignity and must be treated with respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We therefore ask: where has our sense of humanity and dignity gone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CCZ further commends the swift and timely action taken by law enforcement agencies in bringing the perpetrators and all those who fueled this gruesome act to justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our heartfelt condolences go to the family of Mrs. Kamutumbe as they come to terms with this tragic loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To the people of Zambia, may this incident serve as a solemn warning about the grave consequences of taking the law into our own hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The continued pockets of witchcraft-related superstition must come to an end. Claims that certain individuals lose private body parts after contact with others are entirely false and misleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even in situations involving suspicion, there are designated professionals and lawful investigative procedures mandated to handle such matters thoroughly and responsibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This incident has demonstrated the importance of responding swiftly and decisively to acts of lawlessness in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going forward, we urge authorities to extend the same urgency to all forms of lawlessness, regardless of who is involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Original copy signed)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FR. JAMES PHIRI<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>GENERAL SECRETARY<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN ZAMBIA<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1084\" src=\"http:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-06-at-12.11.15.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-06-at-12.11.15.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-06-at-12.11.15-300x254.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-06-at-12.11.15-1024x867.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-06-at-12.11.15-768x650.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CCZ COMMENDS COLLECTIVE SOLIDARITY IN THE MURDER CASE OF MRS. HELLEN KAMUTUMBE IN KALUMBILA DISTRICT The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) commends the collective [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-statements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1248,"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/1248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccz.org.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}