Fake healing pastors flood Zambia

Eighteen-year-old, Saviour Yamba, of Lusaka’s Chazanga compound in the Southern nation, Zambia like any other child dreams of blossoming into a prominent citizen. However, this dream was not going to be. Saviour was coerced to abandon his medication at the advice of a man of God at the age of fourteen so that he could allow prayers take precedence in his life but the results from the decision have been disastrous, as he has faced resistance in the management of his infection. However, Saviour is not the only one in the family to have revolted against the family in preference for faith healing through the acquisition of holy water from the preacher, his sister too, Prisca Chileshe, has had her condition deteriorating to lowest levels. Recent tests on her indicated that despite her claims of cure, she is still HIV positive to the disappointment of her father, Jaddack Yamba Yamba, who has also been living with the HIV virus for the last 22-years. “This is wrong. Today if you just walk into any Pentecostal church, they even have healing sessions and it’s painful seeing your children slide into the grave, why my children” notes Yamba Yamba between sobs. The development is largely seen, as an assault in a country where its government has provided strong leadership on HIV. Executive Director for Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC), Felix Mwanza describes the actions of the clergymen, as a serious violation of human rights calling for the immediate intervention of the Church and Government. Church is lucrative business these days in Zambia, which was declared, as a Christian nation in the 1990’s. Almost all the pastors in these numerous new churches claim to be anointed men of God who perform miracles.