Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000
THOSE who have failed to come to terms with the reality that Edgar Lungu is Zambia’s sixth President should either shut up or accept the fact that the Head of State has been given a legitimate mandate to govern Zambia for the next five years, Edward Mumbi has charged.
Mr Mumbi, the former UPND presidential spokesperson, said President Lungu had been sworn in as the country’s sixth Head of State and it was expected that every responsible and mentally astute political leader to respect the decision of Zambians.
Mr Mumbi said there shall only be one President at a time and it was criminal and provocative for any political leader to refuse to respect the presidency of a country they aspired to govern.
Breaking his silence after resigning from the UPND, Mr Mumbi said in any civilised country where political leaders respected democracy, once election results were announced and a President was sworn in, it was the responsibility of all Zambians including political contenders who had lost the election to recognise the elected leader.
He said President Lungu did not only represent the Patriotic Front (PF) but was the country’s Head of State and deserved respect even from his political opponents if they were politically astute.
He said in an interview President Lungu was no longer a competitor because he had since the last general elections transformed into a Republican President and those who were refusing to recognise him (Mr Lungu) should learn to keep quiet until after the next general elections.
“Between now and 2021, we have a servant in State House in the name of President Lungu who is going to govern this country until after five years. An astute political mind would, therefore, not chose to be disrespectful to the country’s presidency because that is a crime. It is the expectation of Zambians that every responsible politician should help the presidency…help the nation to develop. We do not expect decent political leaders who have lost the general elections to declare themselves winners. Even if they want to refuse the fact that Mr Lungu is Zambia’s President, should they asked their own children who is President in Zambia, they will be told that it is Mr Lungu,” Mr Mumbi said.
Mr Mumbi said political leaders who were living in denial that President Lungu was governing should learn to distinguish between politicking and leadership and that this was a time that called for magnanimity and maturity.
He said President Lungu was the only leader who had been sworn in to govern the country and that any other political leader demeaning the Head of State was being politically naïve and fell short of a good leader Mr Mumbi said elections were over and those who had failed to succeed in the last general elections should now focus on the future rather than wasting time whining over situations they had no capacity to change.
