US Veep, Harris should have met ECL

By NATION REPORTER

THE Patriotic Front (PF) is shocked that the State could not allow visiting United States Vice President Kamala Harris to pay a courtesy call on former President Edgar Lungu, who is the predecessor to President Hakainde Hichilema and Zambia’s only surviving former head of State.

But the United Party for National Development (UPND) is claiming that former President Lungu was invited to be among the dignitaries to meet Vice President Harris and is shocked that Zambia’s sixth President refused to meet Ms Harris.

Brian Mundubile, Leader of the Opposition in Parliament says former President Lungu had facilitated a smooth transition of power and that Zambia’s democratic credentials were being applauded because of how the former head of State had managed the transition.

Mr Mundubile said it is diplomatically and democratically incorrect for President Hichilema not to have facilitated a courtesy call by Ms Harris on his predecessor who had bolstered Zambia’s democratic credentials.

The PF presidential candidate observed that it was a blunder for Vice President Harris to shun paying a courtesy call on former President Lungu, the only surviving former head of State. 

Mr. Mundubile said former President Lungu should have been on the programme of Vice President Harris because Zambia’s democratic credentials were heightened when he handed over power in a smooth transition to President Hichilema. 

He said the US second in command should be aware that President Lungu’s record of uniting Zambia through infrastructure development saw him construct roads, airports, fly over bridges, which changed the face of the country. 

Mr. Mundubile said it was standard practice that visiting Heads of State or their Vice-Presidents meet the incumbent President, former Presidents, the Speaker and lay wreaths on former Presidents’ mausoleums

He said Ms. Harris did everything, except visiting former President Lungu, which breached the diplomatic precedence and etiquette for which Zambia had practiced over the years.

“We had two important events being the visit by the US Vice-President Kamala Harris and hosting the Summit on Democracy. Seeing that the US is pushing the agenda of democracy in Africa, one would have expected Ms. Harris to pay a courtesy call on leaders, such as former President Lungu,” Mr Mundubile said.

Mr. Mundubile said former President Lungu did not only hand over power smoothly but did a lot economic infrastructural development for the country which Zambians were appreciating.  

He said when Ms. Harris arrived in Zambia, the plane carrying her landed at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport which has modern infrastructure built by former President Lungu with support from China.

“In a bid to preach democracy and be able to learn from the experiences we have had during this time and be able to communicate best practices in democracy, there was need for interaction with our leaders. Many of us feel that Madam Harris should have taken time to visit former President Lungu, being the only and immediate past President. The democratic credentials for Zambia went up when President Lungu smoothly handed over power to the now UPND government, smoothly. That is the reason she should have had him high on the programme to ensure that there is constant communication between the office of the former President and Office of the serving President,” Mr Mundubile said. 

But according to Mr Imenda, the UPND is aware that Cabinet Office had invited former President Lungu to be among the dignitories that were supposed to meet Vice-President Harris.

“Despite being invited to be part of the national programme hosting the Vice-President of the United States of America (USA), Mr. Lungu opted to shun all the events. We are aware that Cabinet Office invited the former President to be among the dignitories that were supposed to meet Vice-President Kamala,” Mr Imemnda said.

Mr Imenda said it was high time that the former President got over the loss of elections of August 2021 and assume the role of the father of the nation.

“We are further alive to the fact that the recent actions of the former President Lungu seem to confirm the narrative that Mr. Lungu is still an active player in the political arena. It is therefore prudent that he comes out in the open and stop the shadow-boxing,” he said.