LUNGU SHOULD LEARN FROM RB
. . . Instead of agitating an uprising against HH
By KENNEDY LIMWANYA
On March 11, 2024, the Zambian people commemorated two years since the passing on of Zambia’s fourth president Rupiah Banda who presided over the country’s affairs from November 1 2008 to September 23, 2011.
Looking back at how the late former president conducted himself after losing the September 2011 presidential election to Mr Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front (PF), I often wonder whether it was because he had a good team around him in the Office of the Fourth President or he was simply a diplomat.
Working with Mr Banda in the office of the Fourth President, we tried the best we could to ensure that we preserved his public image.
That side, Mr Banda had others outside our office who could offer timely advice to him and this was one of the reasons we tried to concentrate more on international politics, election observation missions in particular.
Although losing the 2011 presidential election to Mr Sata was not a good thing at all to him, he had accepted the people’s choice and, thereafter, ensured that he did not criticise his successor openly.
Just from Mr Banda’s concession speech on Friday, September 23, 2011, one could tell that he was a leader who meant well for the person who had defeated him.
The following words particularly stand out:
I urge you all now to rally behind your new president. Yes, we may have different ideas but we both want the same thing – a better Zambia.
We should all want Zambia to flourish. So, I congratulate Michael Sata on his victory. I have no ill feeling in my heart, there is no malice in my words. I wish him well in his years as president.
But now it is time for me to step aside. Now is the time for a new leader.
About 18 months later, Mr Banda would be invited by the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa to be the keynote speaker at an international conference on presidential run-off elections at the Kenyatta University School of Law in Nairobi on 14 January 2013.
Among the things he spoke about was on why he had accepted defeat to Mr Sata instead of disputing the election results.
“I felt a bigger responsibility to my country to uphold Zambia’s record of peace, stability and democracy. It was more important to me to preserve peace and avoid unrest in my country,” Mr Banda said.
A month earlier, the Millennium Excellence Foundation had honoured Mr Banda with the 2012 Lifetime Africa Achievement award, a recognition of individuals who had selflessly devoted themselves to bringing about change in the lives of Africans within a given decade.
At that event held at Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenyan vice-president Kalonzo Musyoka had the following words to say about Mr Banda regarding the way he had handled his presidential defeat in 2011:
“As Africans, we are proud of you President Banda. You were commander-in chief in your country and you could have easily disputed the results of the elections. I wish many African leaders could listen to you and realise that even after losing elections, you can be great.”
From Mr Banda’s concession speech, there is something for former president Edgar Lungu to learn from.
The words “I urge you all now to rally behind your new president” are what is expected from Mr Lungu instead of agitating an unconstitutional uprising against a legally elected government led by President Hakainde Hichilema who has a five-year mandate ending in August 2026.
The words “I wish him [Sata] well in his years as president” are what Mr Lungu should be telling the Zambian people instead of wishing President Hichilema a forced hand-over of power to whoever the former president is imagining.
The words “it was more important to me to preserve peace and avoid unrest in my country” should ring in Mr Lungu’s ears instead of looking forward to unrest.
Former Kenyan vice-president Musyoka’s words- “even after losing elections, you can be great”- should remind Mr Lungu about doing something that could distinguish him as a former president instead of dancing to the tune of his hangers-on.
Mr Lungu must realise that the immunity against criminal prosecution that he enjoys only covers offences that he may have committed during his time as president.
Breaking the law now would end up in an arrest and criminal prosecution which could lead to imprisonment.
Those who have been cheering as he makes irresponsible statements would not be there to serve a jail term with him.
As a former president, Mr Lungu is not an ordinary person and commands a sizeable following among Zambian citizens.
He must, therefore, be very careful with statements that are evidently meant at inciting an insurrection against a democratically-elected government.
If there are any people anywhere who genuinely love Mr Lungu and not those whose brains are in their stomachs, they should advise him to be extremely careful with his statements.
Mr Lungu, with his record of having presided over a barbaric, brutal and ruthless regime, should be the last person to criticise a government that has irritatingly tolerated his rantings for far too long.
The author is a former deputy administrative assistant in the Office of the Fourth President and once served as chief analyst for press and public relations at State House under President Rupiah Banda’s administration.
CREDIT: Fyambe Media
This pathological fear of political competition needs to be tackled if you are to win future elections! Just debate the issues!!!
Lumgu is just thick. Let him learn the hard way.
Very wise words indeed. Unfortunately, Lungu has been captured by criminals who want to drag him by the nose to further their own personal agendas against the cumulative wishes of the Zambian people. They will not succeed.