Hon. Mangani Phiri Advises President Hakainde Hichilema to Stop Harrassing Former President and his Family
7th July, 2023
I watched the presser by the children of the former President Dr. EDGAR LUNGU. I tried hard to understand the content to which the presser was called. According to my understanding the presser was called mainly to appeal to the public and the media that they shouldn’t be tried through the press but by the courts of law. At the same time to appeal to the public Court of opinion not to judge them based on hearsay published in the media.
After the press briefing which I keenly followed, I was shocked with the reactions from different personalities on that matter. My take is that I suspect very few people understood the real content of the presser.
Some commentators have concentrated on their feeling about President Edgar Lungu’s reign when he presided over this country. My view is that I don’t see anything wrong with the appeal made by the children. Because even our constitution protects and says that everyone is innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law. So what I am trying to say is that the Lungu family and his children who are our children too are asking that they should not be tried in the media. From the statement we have read, that their father Dr Edgar Lungu has told them to cooperate with law enforcement agencies which is supposed to be supported but instead we are insulting them.
From the onset, I want to appeal to all Zambians that we should avoid the temptation of trying people in the court of public opinion. It is in the same vein that I wish to remind Zambians to reflect on the past experiences. In this regard, I have a vivid knowledge of what Dr. Kenneth Kaunda and other UNIP stewards went through after leaving office. For those who may not remember the court of public opinion speculated that Dr. Kaunda had stolen a lot of money, and he was hiding it somewhere. We equally know the story of Dr. Kaunda stealing books from State House. The speculations dented the image of the founding father. He only regained his actual position in Zambian politics upon his demise.
The second experience we had was that of Dr. Chiluba who was accused of having stolen huge sums of money using the ZAMTROP Account. This case attracted both local and international activists, you all remember how Dr. Chiluba’s immunity was unceremoniously lifted based on several accusations. After all the drama was done on this matter in the end what we saw was a display of neck ties and shoes after a protracted court process the matter ended up with an acquittal. This was after the government had spent huge sums of tax payers money through the defunct task force. They only managed to convict Madam Regina Mwanza Chiluba of having stolen a Tv. Even this part ended up in a dramatic fashion in court.
The third experience was that of President Rupiah Bwezani Banda, he too was accused of having stolen huge sums of money, and that he used part of the money to buy MMD campaign materials including vehicles. As we all know more than 150 vehicles were all seized by the state. At the end of it all this matter was dismissed and the courts directed that the seized vehicles and properties should return to the owner Rupiah Banda.
With all these examples put forward, I want to emphasize that it is important to follow the due process of the law no matter how juicy the cases may be perceived to be. At the same time I want to indicate that am not trying to defend any wrong doing by anybody but appeal that in all this the due process must be allowed to take its precedent. The common practice of shouting ‘kawalala kawalala’ or that there is a lion in the village, can be costly and embarrassing when you don’t find anything. Secondly, I want to condemn the tone of some of the commentators which was almost provocative and insulting. In all these experiences we need to discourage politics of revenge and blackmail. The current President was elected by all Zambians, when there is an issue we can’t have people from a certain grouping giving sharp reactions to everything. President HH was elected by all Zambians not one grouping.
We should also take note that whatever we do today will have a ripple effect tomorrow. If the trend is to follow up on our leaders upon leaving office, I can clearly see the same level of victimization even on the sitting President when he leaves office. The simple question is when are we going to put an end to this. In this country we have had three peaceful transitions of power, but despite this none of the leaders get so celebrated and respected in the region and far beyond for this rare attribute among African political leaders, because of the pettiness and events such as these locally that prevent this. We have contributed so much to the region but our presidents are not celebrated because of this type of unfounded hatred and propaganda. So let’s stop this. What precedence are we setting? We can’t run a country with vengeance and falsehoods.
For example, our current President is perceived to be rich, but up to now he has not declared his assets as required by our constitutional provision that for one to hold a constitutional office, one has to declare his or her assets, the mere fact that President Hakainde Hichilema has not done so, it may cause him serious problems and his family when he leaves office.
Altogether, I want to encourage all of us to handle these matters with soberness. Because bearing in mind that justice must be carefully followed.
In conclusion, let me end by saying this. As a former minister of Home Affairs I want to reveal to you that Presidents by virtue of their office do receive a lot of different gifts which are private and this is outside their emoluments. Therefore, it is difficult to justify everything that Presidents end up acquiring in the process of their duty.
At this stage I want to caution fellow Zambians that matters relating to former heads of state must be handled with a lot care, if we use emotions as the case has been with Dr. Kaunda, Dr. Chiluba, Rupiah Banda and now Dr Edgar Lungu and his family, we may miss the point.
Issued by;
Former Home Affairs Minister
Lameck MANGANI.