Zambian bishop honored at ceremony with award he turned down

Published: 2003-10-31

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- A Zambian bishop turned down the President's Insignia for Meritorious Achievement, but the government planned the presentation ceremony anyway. In a letter to the Zambia Episcopal Conference in Lusaka, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa communicated his intention to give the award to Bishop Raymond Mpezele of Livingstone, said Father Ignatius Mwebe, conference general secretary. In an Oct. 31 telephone interview from Lusaka, Father Mwebe said the bishop turned down the honor because "he felt that he did not deserve it." Father Mwebe said, "I wrote back to his (Mwanawasa's) office to say the bishop was not able to come, and I got no response. They just put his name on the program." Bishop Mpezele, who has led Livingstone Diocese since 1985 and heads the bishops' health department, was in Nairobi, Kenya, when the ceremony was held.

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