Govt mishandled protocols in Lungu death
By Tony Nkhoma
GOVERNMENT messed up laid down protocols in the handling of the death of a former president, Kevin Fube Bwalya (KBF) has said.
Bwalya said President Hakainde Hichilema and the United Party for National Development (UPND) handled late former president Edgar Lungu’s funeral casually.
Lungu died in South Africa on June 5 while receiving treatment in that country.
Speaking in Lusaka yesterday, Bwalya, popularly known as KBF, said the protocols for a dead former head of state should not have been prescriptive. Government’s use of Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa was not right.
The prominent Lusaka based lawyer said Hichilema and the UPND had not engaged the Lungu family and the Patriotic Front (PF) party which Lungu had belonged to.
“The address, usually by the Secretary of the Cabinet or a sitting president, is merely to inform the nation that we have lost a president. This act, the protocols and procedures are not prescriptive,” Bwalya said.
He said when the country heard about the death of Lungu, the UPND government did not speak to the nation as required by law until after four days.
Bwalya said Kangwa declared the national mourning even without consulting the Lungu family and the PF party where the late Lungu belonged.
“This was procedurally wrong and incorrect. Further, the announcement that was made by the Secretary of the Cabinet, Patrick Kangwa was prescriptive. He came to tell the nation that the government had declared national mourning, that there will be a period of seven days of national mourning and that burial will be within that period,” he said.
Bwalya said Kangwa was wrong because his role was only to announce the death of Lungu and advise that further details would follow after consultation with key stakeholders such as family and the PF.
“Why this is important is because the government then has to engage two sets of people. One, the family. Second, it must engage the political party to which that president belonged,” he said
Bwalya said the UPND had not followed protocols and procedure because Hichilema and the UPND had been interfering with the PF leadership.
“The reason why the UPND did not engage the PF is simply because the UPND has been interfering in the affairs of the Patriotic Front,” he said.
“So, they didn’t know who to engage because the guy currently there is their stooge, who will not command any respect from the PF. That was the problem,” Bwalya said.
Bwalya echoed the Lungu family prayer that one day, the body of late former president will be brought home in his beloved Zambia to rest.
