Zambia holds national prayer day to save Kwacha

Zambians yesterday took part in nationwide day of prayer and fasting called by President Edgar Lungu to pray for the country’s plummeting currency, the Kwacha.

President Lungu called for divine intervention to address the country’s currency woes, worsened by a slump in global commodity prices and China’s prevailing economic crisis.

To observe the day, “All football matches in the country were called off, with bars and restaurants forbidden from accepting clients for most of the day on Sunday,” RT reported.

“I personally believe that since we humbled ourselves and cried out to God, the Lord has heard our cry,” Lungu reportedly said in an address on Sunday, “I appeal to all of you to do your best and leave the rest to God.”

Bishop Simon Chihana, president of the International Fellowship of Christian Churches in Zambia, told AFP, “God is a god of miracles and if we ask him, he will bless us and the kwacha shall be restored to its former strength and the prices of goods shall again go down”.

President Lungu has experienced a torrid time since taking over from the late Michael Sata. The Kwacha has plummeted against the dollar by a record low of 45 percent since the beginning of the year. Prices for the country’s  major export, copper has been on the decline.

Food prices have continued to rise, worsened by acute power shortages.

Source: RT