The historical and monumental judgment on the eligibility of Sixth President Edgar Chagwa Lungu finally came to pass on Tuesday 10 th December 2024. For the first time in our history, the judgment in an honourable court of high standing was televised and broadcast live on both ZNBC TV and Radio II.
It made people to have a broader other than a keyhole view on the proceedings of the Constitutional Court. Watching it live was pleasant and heartwarming to the ones who did not face the monster of load-shedding which has affected the area where I reside more adversely than some parts of Luanshya. This is not a verdict that should make anyone despondent to the extreme where one can even suffer a deadly stroke with a raptured vein. It is bitter pill to swallow to the ardent supporters of ECL who were firmly optimistic that their hero was going to get the favour of the court to stand in 2026. One key observation I have personally made on the diehard PF cadres and sympathisers is that they always win even before the election is held and their robust sense of optimism is what makes them unique as all round victors from the days of the founder of the Patriotic Front party Michael Chilufya Sata who, even in his grave, stands out as an indomitable optimist and tough tested politician with a strong spirit of resilience and fortitude.
Though ECL did try to divert from the path carved out by the mighty King Spitting Cobra, he to a great extent sought to emulate Chilufya Sata but somewhat failed to be like him though he was his disciple recruited from Anderson Kambela Mazoka’s UPND which he later despised just as his crown heir to the PF throne Given Lubinda also detested his former party UPND after his mentor Sakwiba Sikota was defeated at the polls of Mazoka’s succession by Hakainde Hichilema. Sakwiba had to loan Given to PF after the ignominious agony of defeat he suffered as a 100% Mazoka loyalist. Many political pundits had expected Sakie to inherit Mazoka’s Presidency of the UPND. Alas! The little known and non-political fellow taken to be a novice in partisan politics got the honour and splendour of victory. Pardon me for diverting to the least expected.
The ConCourt judgment has broken so many hearts and it has left hundreds of ECL’s supporters and sympathisers terminally sick and pessimistic. To some, the verdict has left them speechless as they seem not to have appropriate words to convey to the Boma giant whose legacy of cadre benevolence and all -weather support now seems to have gone against the grains. The ConCourt judgment rubbed them the wrong way. Many of them are burdened with loads and loads of setbacks and tormented by unfelt headaches which are all driving them to the cliff edge of ultimate extinction. They had persuaded ECL to come back to active partisan politics and rule Zambia from where he left. They had seen the party besieged by so many folks who had no money they needed but manifesting aspirations to oust his favourite comrade Given Lubinda Sata called a tourist attraction. Faces of Chishimba Kambwili, Emmanuel Mwamba, Miles Sampa, Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba Brian Mundubile, Chitalu Chilufya and a Mucheleka popped up on the scene and openly declared interest in the PF Presidency but their delay in convening the PF Congress to supplant Lungu who had left his dummy Lubinda to warm the seat as his faithful apostle-cum-seer gave courage to young Miles to hold a Congress where he was elected as PF President. Their appeals to the courts nosedived and Miles got the stamp of legitimacy.
Lungu came out of his shell and announced his return to active politics. This was not strange. He had not anointed Given to replace him but to keep the seat warm and sustain calmness on the waters the PF boat was sailing upon. He came back and gave optimism to many cadres whose hopes were in shreds and longed for a Saviour in Lungu. The Articles of the Republican Constitution prohibitive of one who stood twice in presidential elections not to stand did not matter to them. They wanted ECL the giant of the party who attained heights of indispensables to come back and develop Zambia alone, not any other. They had missed sleek brandy new banknotes thrown into their presence like confetti. Nobody else but Lungu could give them money without sweating for it. The frustrations from Miles hurt ECL and time proved opportune for him to make a grand comeback to active politics. Robert Chabinga the little man with a fixed smile became more PF than Lungu and Miles. He was once an MMD self-proclaimed leader of party intelligence under Rupiah Banda. He won the Mafinga seat on PF ticket and had to throw his hat in the ring for HH. He expelled both Lungu and Sampa even when he was not an inch closer to Sata when he founded the PF with Guy Scott and few loyalists.
The petition filed at the Constitutional Court by Michelo Chizombe was motivated by ECL’s comeback to active politics. He was used talking to thousands of loyal cadres and sympathisers and his confinement to a house owned by a footballer made him uncomfortable as politics became part of his life in eternity. He really wanted to revenge his stunning defeat which made him eat his words in 2021 after 12th August which by his estimation he had won with over 500,000 votes. The votes of victory seemed to have eluded ECL. Reality dawned upon him to his utter disbelief. He never handed power to himself. He handed over the instruments to his archenemy HH. This made him a courageous man. He conceded defeat against his will. His forced eligibility to stand in the Presidential Election of 2021 was to break his heart eventually. Chizombe had come out to petition his eligibility to stand in the 2021 which was somewhat like flogging a dead horse. He had lost elections and his heart was broken. Bitterness could have swelled up his heart and he got encouraged when he saw PF diehards and natural supporters who enjoyed the way Boma ni Lungu feted them. Their pockets were overflowing with money. Some had died of depression at the loss of elections. Hard work and resourcefulness were all in ECL and in him was a redoubtable saviour kinsman. Had the ConCourt upheld the eligibility of Lungu, euphoria could have spread like wildfire in a plain of dry twigs and leaves across the constituencies where his finances as President went flowing like a river breaking its banks at great speed. Lungu became a personality cult in the hearts of many of his sympathisers. Sata never wanted to be idolised.
Lungu bathed in hero worship of himself by cadres. He was a demigod. The deputy Chief Justice eloquently read the judgment pouring out a glut of precedents and references which were to the voracious consumption of the State and those on the side of ECL who viciously and valiantly punched holes in the entire judgment discourse.
It cannot be easy for ECL and his disciples to accept the judgment with respect to the men and women who adjudicated the case. Loss of a case where one is optimistic is greater agony mightier than death itself. However, ECL is alive and well and just has to go to the lonely school of reflection and positive action which can contribute to nation-building. He is the only surviving former President. Five are gone to the land of the silent. Many people would look up to him as a statesman who should help reconstruct Zambia . Enmity in politics is a serious setback to national progress.
The comeback of Lula in Brazil; Trump in the United States and John Dramani Mahama in Ghana may give ECL some ray of optimism but these countries have diametrically different constitutions and their people have temperaments Zambians may have. The pain in ECL is heavy and will be incessant if his eyes will still be focused on getting back to State House at whatever cost. Vindictiveness and obliteration of opponents belong to barbarians. Graceful acceptance of defeat in elections and court judgments is what makes a person greater than all odds against him. Pity parties and self-seeking glory can harden hearts and turn one into a Jonas Savimbi or a Foday Sankoh.
The hate among politicians is so cruel that if can quickly lead the country into tribal wars and religious antagonisms. Zambia is greater than both HH and ECL. We all need each other regardless of our political and ideological convictions. Zambia being a Christian nation should not fall into the trap of satanic forces. Ecclesiastical leaders must swallow their partisan interests and give guidance to both leaders in government and outside government. This is not a Kingdom solely ascribed upon an individual politician and his loyalists or associates. I wonder why some eminent personages like State Counsel John Peter Sangwa and Senior Counsel Kelvin Fube Bwalya are feeling today after playing double standards in 2021 and in 2024 over the eligibility of ECL. In 2021 JPS and KBF sounded their warning to Lungu that he was not eligible to stand in the 12 August 2021 Elections because he had stood in the By Election of 2015 after the demise of President Michael Sata and later stood in 2016 as his own candidate. Both were insistent and persistent on ECL’S inegibility to stand.
This was before a number of television cameras and thousands watched them on Camnet interviewed by Frank Mutubila. This year they had a 360 degree turn around and backed his eligibility for the 2026 Presidential Election as well as the 2021 election which is now water under the bridge. This issue of ECL will rage on for weeks and weeks but with the passage of time it may wear out and down as it will become unproductive and amount to worship of personality cults. May the Lord God Almighty help our political leaders to reach levels of maturity expected. They delight in going round circles like overgrown children. When will they grow into responsible and accountable people as senior political leaders in a country held in higher esteem on the continent? Cry for the beloved Mother Zambia.
By Shadon Chanda
The judgment was comprehensive and on firm ground, thus sui generis. So, we move on while ba Lungu finds something else to do!
I feel very sorry for John Sangwa SC whom I respect so much.Sangwa must be seriously licking his wounds.He miserably lost on both sides of this case. The dishonor of being told he had run out of time to petition Lungu’s eligibility in 2016 and later, the embarrassment of being told that his submissions as “a friend of the court” were inconsequential to the ruling,,,Eh!!!