Esquema del plan de negocio
7. ANÁLISIS DE RIESGOS
6.3. Desarrollo y calendario del proyecto
6.3.1 Chilenje CCAP Congregation
By 1950, the CCAP of the Tumbuka origin had two prayer houses in Lusaka. One group was meeting at Chinika Primary School in Kanyama and the other at Kabwata (Oral interview: Sichinga 25-06-05). This group meeting at Chinika Primary School was under the eldership of Mr. Daiman Lackson Mtambo as chairman, Mr. Nkhoma, session clerk, Mr. Mwale, assistant session clerk, Mr. Nyirenda session treasurer. Elders included Mr. Mazuko, Mr. Banda and Mr. Mawelera. Some prominent Christian ladies were Mrs. Mtambo, Nkhoma, Banda, Nyirenda, Chikankhape, Mazuko and Mwale (Oral interview: Sichinga 25-06-05). In 1960 this group moved from Chinika Primary School to Mkandawire Primary School in Kabwata. The Church was registered with the Government as Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP). As this congregation grew bigger, many CCAP members congregating with sister churches started coming back to their church (Correspondence: Mwale, S. Mr. 1962, 7th November; Correspondence: Mkandawire, P. Mr. 1962, 24th August).
This group was very much helped by Rev. Daniel George Limani, an Army Chaplain at Arakan Barracks, conducting Holy Communion and baptism for its members (Minutes: CCAR Presbytery, 18th July 1957). Sichinga (Oral interview: 25-06-05) observed that in the 1970s, the prayer house based at Mkandawire Primary School was moved to Mwanakatwe Primary school in Chilenje township where their stay was short lived due to lack of finances to pay for worship rooms. From Mwanakatwe Primary School, they went to Muyoma Primary School within Chilenje. Place for their worship service became a problem due to non-payments of rentals to the school authorities (Oral interview: Sichinga, 25-06-05). In view of this, the group moved to Chilenje South Primary School. The problems still followed them until they realised that the best option was to look for their own church plot. In 1976 the plot was found where the CCAP Chilenje church building was built. This means that what is now CCAP Chilenje congregation developed from Chinika Primary School in Kanyama in the late 1940s. One prominent evangelist there was Mr. W. Chiumya, a CCAP Livingstonia Presbytery evangelist (Minutes: CCAR Presbytery, 18th July 1957:15). He was stationed in the Copperbelt and was also allocated Lusaka CCAP congregations as visiting Evangelist (Minutes: CCAR Presbytery, 18th July 1957:15, 16; Minutes: CCAPLiv Presbytery, 2nd September 1951:28, 41).
In my view the oldest CCAP congregation in the urban areas is Chilenje CCAP congregation, which, since its establishment in 1947 never joined the sister churches. Elders and deacons from the CCAP Synods of Nkhoma, Blantyre, Livingstonia and from Loudon Livingstonia Presbytery ministered to the Christians. The CCAP group in Lusaka in 1961 asked Rev. A.B. Doig of CCAP Blantyre Synod for a Constitution but to no avail (Correspondence: Mwale, S. Mr. 1961 7th May). In the same vain, in 1964 the CCAP group in Lusaka asked Rev. R.F. Ndolo for a copy of the Constitution of the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia as they intended of forming the CCAP Synod of Lusaka in 1965 (Correspondence: Ndolo, R.F. Rev. 1964, 9th March; Correspondence: Ndolo, R.F. Rev. 1965, 3rd December; Constitution of the Synod of Lusaka of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, 1965:1, 8).
6.3.1.1 Rev. Daniel George Limani
Rev. Daniel George Limani was born in 1904 in Zomba (Machinga area), Malawi (Oral interview: Limani, 30-04-06). He grew up in Malawi and went to school there before he came to Northern Rhodesia in the 1930s already as a CCAP elder. While in Zambia, he trained as a soldier (Oral interview: Limani, 30-04-06). Upon his completion, he was sent to Bwana Mkubwa Barracks in Ndola (Minutes: CCAR Presbytery, 18th July 1957: 2). After serving as an army officer for more than 10 years, he was sent to a Theological College in Tanzania where he trained as an army Chaplain. He served as an army chaplain in Tag-Aghan from 1956 to 1963. Thereafter, he was transferred to Arakan Barracks in Lusaka (Oral interview: Limani, 30-04-06).
The CCAP Church in urban areas especially in Ndola and Lusaka (Mkandawire CCAP) pays great tribute to him. Rev. D.G. Limani, being a Malawian from CCAP Blantyre Synod attracted many Malawians and North-eastern Zambians to his services. He is the man who helped to establish CCAP Chifubu in Ndola (Oral interview: Limani, 30-04-06). From 1963 he nurtured the CCAP in Lusaka who were meeting at Mkandawire primary school then. He became their minister while he was serving as an army Chaplain (Oral interview: Limani, 30- 04-06).
He was able to guide, guard and nurture the CCAP members from different places in Zambia. He helped the CCAP elders to introduce the CCAP in Zambia to the General Synod, which
later adopted all the CCAP congregations in the urban areas as CCAP congregations under the CCAP General Synod (Oral interview: Limani, 30-04-06; Oral interview: Tembo, 20-08- 03).
6.3.2 Kabwata CCAP Congregation
As people from Malawi and Eastern Zambia continued to trek to the urban areas of Zambia, it meant that people who had a CCAP background flooded many townships (McPherson, 1998:21). More prayer houses were opened in the townships. In Lusaka a CCAP prayer house was started at Kabwata to take care of the pastoral needs of these people. Initially the CCAP members of Tumbuka origin in Lusaka, first congregated with the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa at St Columbus (Oral interview: Sichinga, 25-06-05). Unfortunately, the elders and a minister of St Columba’s requested these people to leave the church as they claimed it was only meant for white Presbyterians (Correspondence: Mzembe, P.C. Rev. 1962, 7th September).
In view of this, all the black CCAP members were asked to join their fellow blacks at Kamwala African Reformed Church (Oral interview: Lungu, 11-09-03). Their membership in this church was short lived due to the language barrier. The main language used during church services was Chichewa. They left the Kamwala based African Reformed Church and started congregating at Kabwata where the present Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa is (Oral interview: Sichinga, 25-06-05). This was the beginning of the Kabwata CCAP prayer house in 1950. As it were, the Kabwata prayer house only lasted up to 1958. This was because as Lungu (Oral interview: 11-09-03) puts it, the CCAP Livingstonia Synod declined to send them a minister due to disagreements between the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Synod of Livingstonia and Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia on the Copperbelt. When their request fell on deaf ears, they tried the CCAP Synod of Blantyre, but to no avail. Then they contacted the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa in South Africa but they were referred back to CCAP Synod of Livingstonia. Missionaries regarded themselves as members of that Church (Correspondence: Theron, O.S. Rev. 1959, 23rd April).
After several contacts with both the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, the PCSA gave this group an evangelist from South Africa, Mr. Redigha. He was followed by evangelist Mr. Ramaribana from South Africa. After his
departure, the congregation remained without a shepherd for a very long time. Against this background, it joined the PCSA in 1958 and soon other CCAP congregations followed suit (Pons, 1982:12). Later the PCSA requested for the spiritual services of Rev. S. Nkhowane, a former CCAP minister (Pons, 1982:12). This is how the CCAP at Kabwata is now the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (Pons, 1982: 12; Correspondence: Kamanga, J.W. 1975, 27th May).
6.3.3 Kabwe and the Copperbelt
The “breakaways” of the Tumbuka Christians from the CCAR started in 1951 in Wusakile (Kitwe). Soon they spread to other mining compounds and to Broken Hill. At Broken Hill, these, Christians who were strong Presbyterians, resisted the authoritarian position of the Methodist minister (Bolink, 1967:266). Under the Livingstonia Presbytery, they were used to elders being ordained for life. In the CCAR this was changed to four years (Bolink, 1967: 266). They strongly resisted this change. In 1961, Mr. S. Mwale, on behalf of the group, wrote a letter to the CCAP Blantyre Synod requesting for a Constitution to help register this Church with the government (Correspondence: Mwale, S. Mr. 1961, 7th November).