By NATION REPORTER
IT is strange that President Hakainde Hichilema is unable to hide his disdain and fears that there is a possibility of former President Edgar Lungu returning to active politics and that Zambians should be worried that the head of State has continued with his invectives against his predecessor, Sean Tembo has said.
Mr Tembo, president of the Patriots for Economic Progress (PEF) says it is not in President Hichilema’s place nor his whims to stop former President Lungu from returning to active politics if so ever wished.
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Mr Tembo said in a statement yesterday that President Hichilema’s verbose about Mr Lungu on the Copperbelt last week should be a source of worry to every well-meaning Zambian because the head of State was manifesting extreme anger and odium against his predecessor.
“Hakainde (President Hichilema) should understand that Zambia is a Constitutional Republic and not a monarchy with him as king. Therefore the rights of citizens are derived from the Constitution, and not given by President Hichilema, as if he were the king,” Mr Tembo said.
He said it is not in the place of President Hichilema to determine whether former President Lungu should return to active politics or not.
Mr Tembo said President Hichilema should focus on demonstrating to the electorate that he was better that his predecessor if the former head of State intended to contest the 2026 elections.
“The current status is that Mr. Lungu is a bonafide Zambian citizen whom, according to the Constitutional Court, is eligible to stand again as President of Zambia in 2026. If Mr Lungu wants to visit churches and mobilize support for his potential 2026 run, he is perfectly within his legal rights to do so. He does not need to get permission from President Hichilema nor anyone else for that matter,” Mr Tembo said.
He expressed worry with the extent to which President Hichilema appeared to be preoccupied with a potential come back of former President Lungu, stating that the head of State realise that he was not the beginning and the end for Zambia.
Mr Tembo said it had become fashionable for President Hichilema to publicly and angrily denounce Mr Lungu’s potential come-ack as if the former head of State had already declared his intentions.
“But why am l worried? Well, I am worried because the President, like all of us, is only a human being and can only address one issue at a time. Right now, the country is going through an economic melt-down. The economy of the Copperbelt is literally on a standstill, largely because the President has not decided on the way forward regarding Mopani and KCM.”
“The economy of Lusaka is literally dead because there is no money in circulation and the cost of living is unbearable. The economy of rural areas which depend on agriculture is half-dead because farming inputs were either delivered late, not delivered at all or delivered in extremely small quantities, in the past farming season,” Mr Tembo said.
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