When Zambia’s currency dropped to an all-time low last month, earning itself the bottom-ranking slot on Bloomberg’s scale, President Edgar Lungu came up with a plan to fix it: a national day of prayer.
Instead of directly addressing power shortages that contributed to a dramatic decrease in copper production — an industry which accounts for at least 70 percent of the country’s export earnings and 11 percent of its annual growth — Lungu asked Zambians to pray for divine intervention to fix the country’s currency, the kwacha, which fell to 45 percent against the dollar this year.
And on Sunday, after nearly a month of power outages and dramatic inflation, bars were closed and soccer matches were canceled so that Zambians could do just that.
“Our God has heard our cries; he has forgiven us our sins, and we are sure he will heal our country [as] we face serious social-economic challenges,” Lungusaid to a crowd of thousands in Zambia’s capital city. “You all know that God is love, and I appeal to all of you to do the best and leave the rest to God.”
Zambia’s founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, who was also present at the prayer service, asked Zambians to direct their prayers specifically toward Lungu, and to help guide him toward economic revitalization.
“God, continue to help us solve the problems this young man may face in future,” he said, as he reportedly touched his hand to Lungu’s head.
Lungu, who is nearly 60, has only been in office since January, and has already had a rough go at the presidency. In March, he collapsed during a speech for International Women’s Day, and had to be transported abroad for throat surgery.
In the past six years, two other Zambian presidents have died while in office, and many citizens were concerned Lungu’s medical condition was more serious than he initially let on.
But although Lungu’s health seems to have improved since his episode in March, the economy has not. It received two credit downgrades this summer, first from Standard & Poor in July and then from Moody’s in September. Economic turmoil in China only added to the crisis, because Chinese demand for copper had traditionally dominated the Zambian market.
Not everyone seemed convinced a day of prayer would be enough to reverse the market. The Post, a Zambian newspaper, quoted the northwest provincial chief Ntambu, who criticized the call for God to fix problems made by man.
“To fast and pray for what, for an economic miracle to happen or what?” he reportedly said. “Is it God who caused those sufferings for you to go back to him and say, ‘No you have done this and that and we want you to reverse your decision?’”
