Religious factor in the political process in Zambia: mutual influence of religion and politics

The article examines the problem of growing politicization in some religious confessions, primarily Christianity, in the process of democratization that began in Zambia in the early 1990s. Zambia is one of the African countries whose religious leaders have played a prominent role in social life throughout their history. It is especially noted that the proclamation of Zambia a Christian nation in 1991 by President Frederick Chiluba contributed greatly to the strengthening of mutual influence between politics and religion. In modern Zambia religious organizations adhere generally to neutrality, the liberal part of all confessional groups seeing their task in solving primary social problems. In recent decades there have been no pronounced ethnic and religious contradictions in the country which could contribute to an emergence of open bloody conflicts threatening internal security and stability. The article shows that with Edgar Lungu’s (Patriotic Front, PF) coming to power in 2015, Zambia was proclaimed a Christian nation again, which was enshrined in the new edition of its Constitution. The campaigns for presidential elections in 2015 and for general elec-tions in 2016 have shown that “religion-politics” discourse has become relevant in the political process, regarding primarily multiple rela-tionships between religion, ethnicity and politics. The country is on the eve of new general elections due in August 2021. In a difficult economic situation, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemics, Zambian government and Church officials are calling on voters to ensure peaceful electoral process.