STOP INJURING ECL LEGACY – LUBINDA

By BARNABAS ZULU

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema should resist the temptation of demonizing late former President Edgar Lungu even in his death and should instead show some level of sincerity in his call for dialogue with the family of the former head of State, who has remained unburied because of the impasse caused by the insistence that the head of State should preside over the funeral and burial of his predecessor, Given Lubinda has said.
Mr Lubinda, the Patriotic Front (PF) acting president said it was disappointing that President Hichilema had chosen to disregard Cabinet decision which had directed that only the Secretary to the Cabinet would be the sole spokesperson on matters concerning former President Lungu.
Mr Lubinda said President Hichilema was not only injuring the family of former President Lungu but the larger family of the PF for publicly attacking his predecessor by accusing him that he had resisted to hand over instruments of power when in fact former head of State had graciously accepted defeat and facilitated a smooth transition. “It is disheartening to see Mr Hakainde Hichilema be the first one to abrogate that decision by Cabinet that only Secretary to Cabinet shall be speaking on matters concerning former President Lunhu. Soon after they told the nation that the only person to speak on this matter was the Secretary to the Cabinet, we saw the President going ahead to demean the legacy of a man that cannot defend himself. That points to the fact that Mr Hichilema considers himself above the law. That is a mark of bad leadership and corporate governance,” Mr Lubinda said.
The PF leader criticized President Hichilema’s reported appeal for Zimbabwe to intervene in the impasse surrounding the funeral and burial of former President Lungu, describing it as insincere and hypocritical.
“His request for Zimbabwe to intervene in this matter is a mockery because he who goes to justice must go with clean hands,” Mr Lubinda said. “You cannot say ‘let’s negotiate’ when you are the same person demeaning the one you want to reconcile with. He injured the legacy of President Lungu by claiming that president Lungu did not want to hand over power.”
Mr Lubinda has maintained that the former head of State respected the Constitution and peacefully handed over power in 2021 and invited leaders of the former ruling party to the event to witness the peaceful transition despite a hostile environment created by Mr Hichilema as president-elect at the time.
“I would like to request Zambians to dismiss that request with the contempt it deserves because those of us who were close to ECL know that he invited us to witness the handover of power. He did it within the confines of the Constitution. He did not refuse to hand over power because he conceded defeat. But those elections were marred with irregularities, including the killing of Jackson Kungo,” he said.
Mr Lubinda further described the government’s stance on negotiations as insincere, claiming it amounted to arrogance, especially that Secretary to Cabinet Patrick Kangwa in his statement had vosed that government was not going to backout on its decision to repatriate the mortal remains of former President Lungu for burial at Embassy Park.
“The statement that government has vowed not to back down on their demands shows that the whole talk about negotiation is a public relations stunt,” he said. “It is an act of insincerity and a mark of arrogance. You cannot say we are going to negotiate but our will is to push our desires. What is it that they are willing to give? Are they going into this as arrogant people saying the ECL family will listen to their demands?”