From: Kambani Banda [mailto:kbanda@zamnet.zm]
Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 5:41 PM
To: ‘vic@kubik.org‘ ; ‘bev@kubik.org‘
Subject: Your false Allegations
Dear Mr. Kubik:
It is disappointing that I am being drawn away from necessary preparation for the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles to respond to the public message which you have disseminated on the Internet and among God’s people. Based on the level of upset and division you are causing within the Body of Christ, you leave me with little choice but to personally respond to your false claims and set the record straight. This is an open letter, and it may be shared with others. While I would normally try to avoid a public response to false allegations such as these, it is necessary to give an answer to your outrageous charges.
Let me note at the outset, it is with much regret that I write this letter; however, after the many months of your concerted efforts to drag me through the courts of this world, along with the actions of two of your ministers (one local, and one from the United States) in August, I feel that I must now address the postings and public “prayer requests” that you have spread abroad accusing myself and other members here in Zambia of theft.
Such accusations are patently false, yet you have never once tried to discuss the matter (or complaints) about such with me or the other members you have slandered (as the Scripture would require of you). Rather, you have pursued spreading false accusations, and total mis-information about the alleged “rustling” of cattle in Zambia .
Your public statement, which has been questionably dubbed a “prayer request,” has the effect of making me and unspecified members of my congregations appear to be criminals without conscience. This is slander, and you have violated the ninth commandment (Exodus 20:16) by disseminating this false testimony against your brethren. I implore you to retract your false accusations and issue a public apology for the benefit of those whose reputations have been damaged by your actions. You are also doing a great disservice to your own members by manipulating their emotions with these false statements on the eve of the Feast of Tabernacles
To be clear, nobody in my congregations has stolen any cattle. Not from your fellowship, not from anybody. We have not taken a single animal from your members. Such an action would be a crime, and more importantly, this would be a sin before God.
If you truly believe this has happened, then you believe that crimes have happened. Cattle rustling is a serious offence in Zambia , an offence for which one can be imprisoned. Since you have already shown yourself more than willing to resort to the legal process by filing lawsuits against a brother, why aren’t you willing to go to the police with these allegations? Why haven’t your informants in Zambia taken this story to law enforcement?
Let the truth come out, and I challenge you to back up these allegations with strict proof if you are serious. You know Haben and Winter to be faithful members of the church; however, you should understand, that if these men are falsely imprisoned as a result of fabricated and slanderous accusations, there will be a price for you or others to pay based under Zambian law.
While you are personally aware of how the Church of God has operated in Zambia in recent memory, due to your Internet propaganda, perhaps a few reminders are in order. First, the Church of God in Zambia runs a nongovernmental organization, and the nongovernmental organization shepherds assets for the benefit of the brethren. Among the organization’s assets are a few head of oxen. The organization is responsible for caring for these oxen and ensuring that our church brethren get equitable access to the animals. No single individual owns the animals in question; your allegation to the contrary is a false statement. These animals are a community resource, and brethren are allowed to use them on a rotational basis for a limited period of time. While one or more people may have suddenly claimed a baseless personal property interest in some of the oxen, you should know better.
As you might recall, under the policies of our NGO entity in Zambia , two heifers per family are initially given as a loan to members of our organization, and eventually, these animals may or may not become personal property. You should recall that the heifers become personal property only when a member family repays their loan, and loan repayment is in the form of one calf per heifer. Since each family is given two heifers, each family must then “pay back” two calves. However, unless that condition is satisfied, the loaned animals must be returned.
The facts in this matter make one wonder how you came up with the specific allegation that our members “rustled” seven animals. This is a complete fabrication.
On the other hand, our organization did recently receive back one overdue ox from an individual who appears to be associated with your church and who has been openly hostile our fellowship. This individual was legally bound to return the animal loaned to him when the loan period expired. There was no mistake about this. With this in mind, we had a responsibility to ask for the return of the ox in an orderly manner, so that it could be loaned to another family. The individual in question was given notice of our desire to have the animal returned. While we sensed that the individual was not happy about being required to return our brethren’s property, this did not deter us from seeking to act in the best interest of the brethren, and according to well-established rules regarding the ox pool’s permitted uses.
Fortunately, two responsible representatives of the local NGO visited this individual and cooperated with him in effecting an orderly, consensual, and peaceful transfer of the asset. No objections were raised, and he seemed to understand why it was that the organization property had to be returned. Contrary to the false statements in your postings and “prayer requests” being circulated, no force was used; no “rustling” occurred; no “thieving” occurred; no hostility ensued; and nothing sensational happened. The only thing wrong with this scenario was that our organization did not receive back its property sooner than it did. On the other hand, forceful or violent confiscation of the animal would have been a sin and likely a crime, even under these circumstances. As a pastor, I would not condone that within my congregations. I have investigated the situation and have interviewed the witnesses. I am more than satisfied that nothing improper occurred here. In sum, this individual has no moral or legal claim to the ox.
Mr. Kubik, you are probably aware of other provocative and ugly acts committed against us by persons associated with your fellowship in recent months, and you may have noted that we have done our best to turn the other cheek each time, and to not publically address them. In August, a visiting minister (of UCG-AIA) from the United States threw a rock at the door of the home of one of our members residing at the church farm as a caretaker, breaking it in the process. Further, one of your ministers broke into the church property by chiseling the locks thereon and taking with him an energizer used to power the fence.
While we had hoped that you would eventually leave us alone and peacefully separate from us, you don’t seem intent on doing so. In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask you to stop all forms of harassment and slander against our organization and against our brethren. Please leave us in peace. Recently the courts ruled that you, Victor Kubik, have no sufficient legal interest to mount the claim you were purporting to make. As you well know, you were struck out of the legal proceedings you initiated against me in my personal capacity. Yet it seems that you do not recognize the court’s ruling, even though if you were in Zambia, you could well be cited for contempt of court for your public misrepresentation of judicial proceedings (I refer in particular to your internet post on August 19 entitled “Breakthrough on the Verino Property”) in which you categorically stated that the Court had ruled in your favor!
While we believe your recent public efforts to falsely accuse individuals of criminal behavior is slander, and actionable in a court of law, we do not believe the Scriptures allow us to sue a brother in the secular courts. Settling your abuse and our differences aside for a moment, we still consider you a brother and we respectfully ask you to start behaving towards us as a brother.
While you may not be happy that I chose to dis-associate myself and our relationship from United Church of God, AIA, this is no reason to take a brother to the courts of this world, to refuse to meet with him (myself) privately, to publically misrepresent the outcome of judicial proceedings , and now to publically spread totally false accusations, while preying on the sympathy of uninformed Church members around the world, beseeching them to “pray to protect the Zambian brethren” from evils of cattle rustlers, as if someone’s person or livelihood are in jeopardy. And then as if that is not enough, to cite these “thieves” as members of our current Church fellowship.
On behalf of our brethren in Zambia , I beg you: refrain from any further slander or harassment. And also, please leave my brethren in the Church of God , a Worldwide Association out of this by holding back on any further innuendos regarding their leadership’s alleged involvement in this controversy (they have not been involved in this incident or in the recent litigation that you commenced, as these are local matters). I challenge you to critically examine yourself regarding your recent actions. I hope you are able to do this and keep God’s Feasts with a clear conscience.
Kambani Banda
