Government Tells Clerics Facing Charges To Step Aside As MPs Press Archbishop Banda

The Government has called on clergy facing serious legal or ethical allegations to consider stepping aside while the courts establish the facts. Catholic Church-aligned lawmakers have separately urged Lusaka Archbishop Alick Banda to withdraw temporarily from pastoral duties while he answers criminal charges.Archbishop Banda was arrested on September 28 and charged by the Drug Enforcement Commission with possession of property reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.