No Legal Basis for Presidential Apology in State-Facilitated Burial of Former President Lungu
By; Tobbius Chilembo Hamunkoyo -LLB
The call by Grassroot Patriotic Party (GPP) President Damiano Ngoma urging President Hakainde Hichilema to travel to South Africa and issue an apology to the family of the late former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu lacks both legal foundation and constitutional necessity and should be entertained in any way.
President Hakainde Hichilema in coordinating burial arrangements, is merely executing his constitutional duties and upholding long-standing State protocols applicable to the death of a former Head of State.
The suggestion that President Hichilema should apologize for the lawful suspension of Mr. Lungu’s benefits under the Benefits of Former Presidents Act, which was invoked due to Mr. Lungu’s return to active politics, is legally unfounded.
The enforcement of this statute was done in compliance with established law and not as an act of persecution.
Accordingly, the President’s actions in managing the funeral and burial proceedings align with historical precedent and established state practice, and there exists no legal or moral obligation requiring an apology.
It’s absurd and illogical for any sensible person to ask President HH to go South Africa to apologise to the remains of a person who had him arrested and tortured for no crime. Is there any logic in the suggestion. Apologies for what? The suggestion is utterly nonsensical. We have so many empty vessels in politics.
I have never came across such kind of childish and useless reasoning. Apologies for what exactly? The whole of a republican president to fly to South Africa on a private visit to go and meet with Makebu Zulu and Lungu family surely. Respect the president. Damiano Ngoma you are at liberty to go there yourself. Depending on the outcome of the case in court in South Africa, the Lungu family can bury their family member anywhere they deem fit.