HH SHOULDN’T SPEAK TO LUNGU LIKE A KID – FORMER PF SG MWILA
…says President HH should respect former president Lungu because he is older than him.
Lusaka – Friday, 17 March 2023
FORMER PF secretary general Davies Mwila says President Hakainde Hichilema should give his predecessor, Edgar Lungu, some respect because he is not his agemate.
And Mwila has wondered what wrong the former president has committed that President Hichilema has continued “insulting him”.
On Wednesday, President Hichilema warned Lungu that it will soon get bad for him if he continues “ukutumpa” (being stupid).
But in an interview, Thursday, Mwila said President Hichilema’s statement showed that he had a grudge against Lungu.
“What wrong thing has Edgar Lungu made? This is the question that is supposed to go to the President, Mr Hakainde Hichilema, what wrong has Mr Edgar Lungu made? Is it [wrong] for him to go to church? What is there for him to start insulting his friend? He must explain properly. I was there at church and Edgar Lungu never gave a statement more than two minutes. He said ‘I lost power but I never lost God’. And he thanked the Christians for ensuring that Zambia is maintained as a Christian nation. He emphasised the need for him to continue going to church because he is a Christian. It ends there. Is that a problem? This just shows that the President has a grudge against his friend. He is a bitter man,” he said.
Mwila said President Hichilema should respect Lungu because he was older than him.
“As far as I am concerned, former president Edgar Lungu meant well. He never insulted anyone, he never talked about the price of mealie meal or fuel. So there is even no need for the former president to apologise because he never made any mistake. And I would encourage him to be free because he is a citizen. He is free and he can go anywhere he wants to go. He is not a prisoner. We have advised him, he should not be staying in his home. He is not under house arrest. He must be going round mingling with people. He is still young and energetic. The President has been condemned by so many people and he must change his language. He is the President of the country and not a political party. He is an institution now. He can’t be speaking to Edgar Lungu as if he is speaking to a small kid, no. Hakainde Hichilema is 60, Edgar Lungu is 66. So some sort of respect must be there,” he said.
And commenting on Local Government and Rural Development Minister Gary Nkombo’s congratulatory remarks to Lungu for “coming back into active politics”, Mwila said there is no indication that Lungu is back in active politics.
“Who told him that he is back in politics? Thabo Mbeki in South Africa talks about politics and how the country is being governed. Uhuru Kenyatta in Kenya, Mbingu wa Mutharika in Malawi just lost today and the following day he started holding rallies. Edgar Lungu has never gone anywhere to address a rally. They have to just continue governing because they were given the power. Since power was given to them, let them implement the promises they made. They should not concentrate or divert attention to Edgar Lungu. Edgar Lungu is former president and former presidents have the right to move, to speak and the right for anything. They are citizens of this country. So he is still energetic and let them just concentrate. If they are saying that he wants to come back, let them just dream. It is them thinking about that. As far as we are concerned, he has not made any indication that he wants to come back. We have never heard about it. Going to church should become a crime? No, let’s be serious,” said Mwila
(Credit: News Diggers)