Dec 10 Edgar Lungu Judgement: Lessons for Zambia and Democracy
By Amb. Anthony Mukwita
A new crop of ‘lawyers’ has emerged in Zambia since the Constitutional Court of our nation on 10th December ruled the sixth President of Zambia Edgar Lungu out of contention in a poll slated for 2026.
Real lawyers called this the most consequential court case in the modern history of Zambia having the power to make or break democracy as we know it today and the future.
I suppose this is because the case involved two national political heavyweights, in the red corner, incumbent Hakainde Hichilema and the green corner Edgar Chagwa Lungu, the immediate past President.
The stakes were high, the adrenaline was running out of control while the main contenders were on a proverbial cliff-hanger as their future political lives lay in the hands of seven men and women in robes on the bench.
For the sixth President the stakes were even higher because the decision to bar him at this stage aged a spry 67 could mean the last time he may vie for the most coveted job in town.
For his arch rival and nemesis, however, perhaps not that bad based on age because if he lost the case he would just dust his coat and jump back in the ring again, business as usual.
What we saw, however, is that the newly constituted Concourt barred Lungu from running because apparently, he did not legally qualify to compete against his rival HH in 2021.
The same court, however, excluded President HH of the ‘mistake’ or transgression of 2021 because he has been allowed to run and seek re-election in 2026 and not his rival ECL.
Do you see what I am getting at here as a Main Street Lawyer?
I am saying according to my humble understanding of the law, *One candidate has been treated more favorably above another*, therefore justice has not been seen to be done and therefore democracy as we know it has come under question, I could be wrong.
Respected lawyers I have spoken to, some of them State Counsels, tell me that the proverbial dice was loaded from the start, there was no way this newly constituted ConCourt was going to act judiciously looking at the way they came on the scene after three others were removed.
*Edgar Lungu was swimming against the tide or flying against the wind*.
My counsel advisors, because I aint no trained lawyer, also tell me that *ECL has no chance of getting back on the ballot come 2026 using the same court that barred him because it will not at any cost vacate its 10th December decision just to please an opposition leader* when the consequences for them could be dire.
“ *The best thing President Lungu can do at this point for the sake of democracy in Zambia as a big player is join forces with a ‘flawless’ ferocious candidate from the opposition* and face 2026 through that avenue,” a lawyer and political commentator told me.
He said if democracy is to thrive, we will need a strong opposition because in the absence of one, a dictatorship shall emerge and take our country back to the stone age.
Remember that the stone age did not end because we ran out of stones but because men started to sit around the table to iron out differences and not stone each other.
I wrote in this column as a lover of democracy that “it ain’t over until the fat lady sings” and gave examples of Senegal where the main contender was knocked out of the main race but tapped a younger colleague to run and win.
I am also aware of the role the former President of Botswana Ian Khama played in regime change in the diamond rich country or how John Dramani Mahama made a miraculous come back in Ghana after being written off as old scrap metal.
The thing in politics like second President Frederick Chiluba said is “twenty four hours is a very long time, almost a lifetime because anything can happen to tip your fortunes up or take them away.”
There’s nothing I love most, myself as “ do unto others as they would do to us in love and politics” because what you do in the political arena today in order to hurt your foe could be used against you in future.
My call has always been that for a small country like Zambia with a paltry population of some 20 million people, 60 pc of them wallowing in miserable shameful poverty under the belly of the beast, more unites us than divides us.
Instead of fixing each other using lawfare or anything harmful for that matter, barring perceived enemies or bumping them off the ballot allegedly, we must start fixing the economy.
We must create jobs and stop exporting them the way we do raw materials such as copper or maize, we must live and let live and not live and punish perceived enemies.
We must heal our land like Michael Jackson said and make it a better place for you and for me and the entire universe because there are people dying from starvation as their leaders fight.
I always say an injustice meted upon Dr Edgar Lungu today is the same injustice that could be meted against Dr HH tomorrow, so what is the point if I may ask?
The elephant in the room as Christmas sneaks in around the corner in my view is the expensive out of reach 25kg bag of mealie meal presently priced at about K400, the K33 per litre petrol, K200 loaf of bread and K220 per 1.5litre cooking oil.
If Don H took care of these basics it’s my considered view that the Don would never need to lose sleep over Edgar Lungu, Harry Kalaba, KBF or Dr Fred M’membe.
My ultimate pedestrian view is actually that the biggest mortal enemy for Don H is poverty not Lungu and all opposition leaders put together.
Employing some green horn journalist’s, some of them really talented cannot undo the poverty narrative.
When you are hungry or poor, a public relations officer cannot change that, you just want your lunch.
In five days time Zambia joins millions in Africa to celebrate Christmas, I hope your mother has already secured a loan to buy you that samptuos chicken curry and fanta that was characteristic of Christmas back in the day.
God bless you Zambia and happy Christmas as we inch fast towards 2026, make love not war.
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Anthony Mukwita is a former Ambassador of Zambia, an International Relations Analyst and published author. Ambassadors Mukwita’s books are available in Bookworld, Grey Matter and Amazon.