GOVT SHOULD NOT BE BLAMED FOR DECISION BY KAMALA HARRIS NOT TO PAY COURTESY CALL ON FORMER PRESIDENT EDGAR LUNGU
By Chileshe Mwango
Professor of History at the University of Zambia Bizeck Phiri says it is not mandatory that United States of America Vice President Kamala Harris needed to pay a courtesy call on former President Edgar Lungu.
In an interview with Phoenix News, Professor Phiri says government should also not be blamed for the failure by Ms. Harris to visit the former head of state unless someone has information she had intended to do so but was blocked by those in authority.
Professor Phiri explains that it is not always that foreign dignitaries should pay courtesy calls on the former President unless they request so and in most cases it is held privately despite the publicity that comes with it.
He spoke to Phoenix News following a statement by PF Presidential aspirant Brian Mundubile who has said that it is a diplomatic blunder for Ms. Harris not to have paid a courtesy call on Mr. Lungu, especially that America is pushing the agenda of democracy in Africa and Mr. Lungu being Zambia’s only surviving former President.
Meanwhile, Governance and Development Advocates Zambia Executive Director Elias Mulenga has advised the opposition Patriotic Front not to be petty about Ms. Harris’s decision not to pay a courtesy call on Mr. Lungu.
PHOENIX NEWS