CATHOLIC priest-cum-politician Frank Bwalya has publicly supported gay marriages and says he would not arrest those practising homosexuality if he was elected President.

Father Bwalya said he would respect homosexuals, claiming this was in line with the Catholic Church which prescribed respect for every individual.

He said this when he addressed journalists in Johannesburg at the invitation of Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA) yesterday.

“I will not arrest homosexuals but respect them if I was given an opportunity to run the country,” he said.

Fr Bwalya, who is former Zesco Board chairperson, admitted that he had no idea on how to run a country and would rely on advisers if he was allowed to govern as President of Zambia in 2016.

”I have no idea on how to run a country but I have an idea on who has an idea on how to run the country.

“Therefore, my role will be to identify the right advisers who will be able to help me,” said Fr Bwalya, who was accompanied by his personal assistant, Emmanuel Chilekwa.

He explained that he accepted to serve as Zesco Board chairperson because he wanted to have access to President Michael Sata but was left disappointed after failing to achieve his objective.

The 44-year-old said the current political leadership in Zambia had failed to identify appropriate people and experts who could advise the President.

Fr Bwalya recently resigned as Zesco Board chairperson and announced he was forming a political party, Alliance for Better Zambia.

He has been on rampage discrediting the Patriotic Front (PF) Government in the recent past.

Some quarters have said the clergyman is overrating himself while the PF has labelled him “a frustrated man”.

Fr Bwalya confirmed yesterday that he had asked for an education scholarship from Mr Sata in November last year but was not given and he had not seen the President since then.

He accused the Head of State of deliberately causing parliamentary by-elections by allegedly coercing opposition Members of Parliament to join the ruling party.

Fr Bwalya said while he was not against old people in Cabinet, he had been angered by the fact that President Sata had started employing people who were accused of corruption in the MMD administration.

via Times of Zambia.