Dear Editor,
THE late President Edgar Chagwa Lungu did not return to the political arena out of vanity or ambition. He came back to rescue the Patriotic Front (PF) – a party he once led and which, at the time, had been hijacked by state machinery through some of the most brazen and irregular acts witnessed in the country’s democratic history.
The orchestration involved elements of the police, the Registrar of Societies and the broader apparatus of government. It was not a contest of ideology, but a state-sponsored operation aimed at dismantling the main opposition.
Despite this provocation, the UPND government has continued to peddle the falsehood that Edgar Lungu had no justification for his political reengagement. They claim he violated his retirement status – ignoring the fact that it was the state that pushed him back into political life by threatening the very existence of the party he once led.
Even his immunity was in very serious danger following a demand by the Drug Enforcement Commission to interview him. Why would they have wanted to interview him, a man who enjoyed immunity? Clearly his immunity was on the line.
This regime did not mean well for him. It meant to destroy him and all he stood for.
It must be remembered that Edgar Lungu chose to forgo his retirement benefits, his privileges, and his comfort – not to enrich himself, but to stand with his people and the ideals that the PF represented.
This was not a calculated political comeback; it was a selfless sacrifice. In life, such acts are rarely appreciated, but in death, they stand as lasting testaments to character and conviction. His final months were marked by a sense of duty, not entitlement. Few leaders would relinquish so much in defence of democracy and solidarity.
What is particularly disturbing now is the selective memory – or rather, the orchestrated amnesia – that the ruling UPND has adopted. They now accuse Lungu’s mourners and sympathisers of hypocrisy. But who are the hypocrites in this scenario?
This is a former head of State whose political party was desecrated through state collusion and greed. This is a man who, despite being entitled to diplomatic courtesy, was denied permission to travel abroad for urgent medical treatment and other personal engagements.
When he attempted to travel, he was disgracefully removed from an aircraft – an act that remains an international embarrassment. Eventually, he had to “sneak out” of the country under the shadow of a visiting UN rapporteur, simply to access basic health care.
Let us not forget that while he battled this quiet persecution, his family and close associates were relentlessly targeted.
His wife, children, friends, and colleagues were dragged through courts, detained, and had their properties seized – often without due cause. This was not governance; it was vindictiveness disguised as justice.
BARNARD BWEMBYA.
