PRESIDENT HH HAS NOT VIOLATED ANY LAW (NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL) IN HONOURING THE 3 FORMER HEADS OF STATES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
Some people have condemned President HH for honouring 3 ex heads of state from Nigeria, Liberia and Serra Leone.
Their argument range from local poverty, not honouring the local politicians to undeservingness of the 3 former heads of State to be honoured by President HH with the highest Honor of the land when they allegedly did nothing for Zambia.
This condemnation of the President’s gesture is in total oblivioness of what ex-President of Nigeria, Obasanjo, did in helping reduce political tension that characterised the country in the year 2017.
This followed the raid at HH’s home by police, arrested and charged him with treason, a non bailable offence in Zambia, and subsequent detention for 127 days at Mukobeko Maximum Correctional Facility coupled with court trials and appearances.
President Obasanjo’s intervention and that of other leaders like Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, saved rather a very volatile political environment which led to the release of President HH, then in opposition, from Mukobeko Maximum Correctional Facility on a nolle prosequi.
Former President of Serra Leone too was insturmental, together with late President Rupiah Banda, in convincing President ECL to handover power to the President-Elect, then HH, after the 2021 General Election landslide victory.
This was after visible signs of footdragging couple with excuses alleging that the election results were rigged and did not reflect the true situation on the ground, esp in Southern, Western and North-Western provinces, exhibited and advanced by ECL and his sympathisers to do so after his excruciating electoral defeat.
Admittedly, President Edgar Chagwa Lungu confessed recently at his home that some people in his party and members had advised him not to handover power, an act which was/is treasonable in Zambia.
The nation was informed by ECL himself, not too long, that some of his people within the file and rank of the former ruling party had advised him to resist defeat and also the handing over power to his successor, President HH but he had to do it because it was the right thing to do.
Yet, President Lungu had a and compelled by the constitutioal mandate, responsibility and duty to handover when the will of the people had been expressed through a ballot.
Had this resistance actualised in violation of the Constitution, it would have potentially exposed the country to political destabilisation and instability.
It took these former presidents to negotiate for a safe passage and indeed peaceful and smooth handover of power from ECL to President HH.
How can anyone gather the courage to say these people don’t deserve that recognition by Zambia, in all fairness?
Lest we forget therefore, the Political PEACE Zambia is enjoying, especially from 2017 through 2021 post election to date, is largely because of the intervention of the former President Obasanjo (Ex-Nigerian President) in 2017 and Bai Koroma (Ex-President, Serra Leone) in 2021.
Honouring of foreign individuals by foreign governments, including ours, believed to have contributed something for the region, Africa and world is not a new phenomenon.
Our late former presidents KK and RB were both honored with degrees by foreign countries too and our government also honored Mandela among others.
In any case, President HH has not broken any law, not even the Constitution, by honouring these sons and daughter of the African soil.
The Constitution in Article 92 empowers the President to confer honours on anybody he wishes to honour.
Clause 2 of Article 92 stresses that without limiting the other provisions of this Constitution, the President is empowered by the Constitution of the Republic to confer honours on anybody.
So where is the unsettledness in some people coming from to condemn the President as if he has misconducted himself or indeed violated the Constitution of Zambia?
I submit
McDonald Chipenzi