Edgar Lungu Has Gone Too Far

Edgar Lungu, the immediate former republican president of Zambia, has been very active in the news lately.

After being defeated at the polls in August 2021, the man tried some antics but then appeared to have settled down in some kind of retirement. Once, he even spoke blatantly that he wouldn’t go back to politics, and those calling on him to do so were wasting their time.

Lo and behold! The man has reappeared as if possessed! Only he knows if someone is instigating him to do what he is doing or if, in his own skewed thinking, he honestly believes that less than three years later, Zambians have forgotten the wasted years that his tenure as head of state was.

I will not waste time recounting the many wrong, unpleasant, and downright despicable things he did, sponsored, or condoned during his tenure. Those who hold otherwise, pretend to have forgotten, or claim he was a better leader are free to hold those views.

My focus is drawn only to his current antics, the worst yet being his utterances at the so-called prayer service he and his ilk held yesterday.

What makes Edgar Lungu think that this country is in such a crisis as to warrant an unconstitutional change of government?

Exactly what is he implying or telling us by his words? And if he is visited by the law, he will claim harassment, shrinking democratic space, and all those “politically correct” and incensed words they use.

Is Mr. Lungu inciting Zambians to rise against a democratically elected government? Is he plotting something more nefarious that we dare not mention? Exactly where is he drawing this power from to taunt, dare, disrupt, and disrespect? Which Zambians does he think he is representing?

What does he mean by saying that 2026 may be too far, and it’s possible to get a full-term birth before 9 months?

“This pregnancy we are carrying, maybe we will reach 2026, or maybe we will give birth sooner. When the time has come, it has come. When the hour has come, you can’t stop it. Those who are saying 2026, it may be far. It’s possible to get a full-term birth before 9 months, only God knows. People are talking about the 2026 elections, but I’m here to tell you that we may not even reach 2026 because we may deliver a baby before that time.”

And he prides himself on being “uwalubuli” – a person who likes to fight.

Incredible!

Those are very scary, dangerous, and reckless words to utter by a man who has not only studied the law but also held the office of a former president.

It’s ironic that the same people claiming that they can’t assemble or organize are the same ones enjoying so much freedom to spew garbage. Freedoms that only a few months ago, when they held power, they didn’t allow the people they now claim are persecuting them.

Edgar Lungu has yet to escape through some roof or something for his life—and not once. He has yet to be arrested and spend time in jail for nothing. He enjoys immunity from prosecution despite the many rotten things he did and keeps doing, and that really is the reason he will do it.

Please don’t take Zambians or the current leaders for fools. You are still without ideas.
The same clueless man who entered and left State House is the same man rabble-rousing today. Everyone who is critically objective knows that everything Edgar and his minions are complaining about would have been worse had he and his party continued to be in power.
It is strange that a man who has held the revered office of president and served as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces could make such careless and dangerous statements all in the name of populism.

How he fails to see that he keeps embarrassing himself is honestly beyond the grasp of any right-thinking human. Today, he says he smells; tomorrow, he’s a snake and a dove. Whatever modicum of respect some people held for you is being lost at your own doing.

Even when he doesn’t agree with the current regime, there are better ways to do it, befitting his status. If what he is really after is positive change, he could put his weight behind someone else, prop and mold them. But no, it has to be him! Because Zambia is so desperate that we would look at him again.

Sir, please check yourself. The path you’re treading is dangerous for Zambia. It may not be so for you, but we do not wish for ugly scenes on your account. You’ve already done enough harm to this country, more harm than anybody else who held that office has.

Please live with some dignity and stop starting fires that you have no capacity to quench. Your antics are going too far.