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Sunday, February 9, 2025
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It’s Nonsense – Prof Lumumba

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Professor Patrick Loche Lumumba, a renowned Kenyan constitutional lawyer, Pan-Africanist and an anti-corruption activist has dismissed an online report purported to have been issued by him describing President Hakainde Hichilema as a full blown dictator, according to the Daily Nation.

Infact, in denying the report, Prof Lumumba was not complimentary – he described what was falsely attributed to him as “nonsense”.

“I have seen the nonsense being circulated and attributed to me. I have made no such statement. It is sad that people misuse social media,” Prof Lumumba is quoted by the Daily Nation.

Despite Prof Lumumba’s denial, what remains inescapable is that Mr Lungu went on a tirade against President Hichilema and other people, based on a falsehood.

Infact, one may be tempted to think the whole debacle was a PF creation, including a bogus-looking news page that carried the story upon which Mr Lungu based his rantings.

In the aftermath of the so called Prof Lumumba interview, here is an excerpt of what Mr Lungu posted on his Facebook page.

“From an honest comparison, I am happy to hear from Professor Lumumba that my efforts to promote and safeguard democracy in our motherland which were undermined then are now deemed to have been far much better when mirrored with HH’s UPND regime. When foreign scholars who at some point criticized you begin to appreciate your efforts on democracy promotion against the person they once deemed better, then it means that their feedback is morally noble and politically sincere.

“In September, 2020, I remember Prof. Lumumba saying “President Edgar Lungu is intolerant, paranoid and a demagogue”. Today, I am happy to hear that the same Kenyan lawyer and Pan Africanist is saying “everyone can now see that former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu was a democrat and that Hichilema is a full fledged dictator”. This gives me a sigh of relief as I am being vindicated for warning everyone that “you will appreciate me when I leave office”.

“Therefore, I agree in totality with Professor Lumumba when he argues Zambians to find ways of terminating the mandate of Hichilema in 2026 because “he poses a danger to Zambia’s peace and Africa at large”. Remember, it is the first time since independence that under my successor, a brotherly nation, our own neighboring Zimbabwe now feels so insecure about Zambia because of wrong political leadership and foreign policies in Lusaka. 2026 should be marked as “a year to restore democracy and good neighborliness”.

“When a person who praised you as ‘the hope and light of Zambia’ begins to describe you as “the worst dictator since Zambia’s independence”, then wisdom demands that you pose, listen and take a deep self reflection at once. President Hichilema must listen to “his former allies” like Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa, Bflow, Laura Miti, Brebner Changala, Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu and Professor Patrick Lumumba himself and tone down on his authoritarian and law-fare politics. He is speedily losing stakeholders trust and public confidence both at home and abroad!

“And if President Hichilema is to start walking democratic values, he will do better to stay away from political vengeance, bitterness, tribalism, regionalism, selective justice, weaponizing state agencies, suffocating free speech as well as start allowing opposition parties to freely conduct politics in public spaces. It is not by coincidence that Professor Patrick Lumumba, Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa, Brebner Changala, Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu, Bflow or his Laura Miti are all complaining that “he is a dictator and a threat to national peace”.

We can ask many questions about this gaffe, a deliberate recklessness and an act of provocation which should not have arisen had Mr Lungu done some background checks on the authenticity of that lie of an interview.

The good thing is that it has exposed Mr Lungu in many ways, including seemingly supporting neighboring Zimbabwe whose leader Emmerson Mnangagwa seems to be on a quest to wage an unprovoked diplomatic war against Zambia.

But when everything is considered, will Mr Lungu at least have the courtesy to apologize to Prof Lumumba and Zambians?

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