We’ve lost a true leader – Bishop Mulenga
By Thandizo Banda and George Zulu
KABWE Catholic Bishop Clement Mulenga has described the death of former president Edgar Chagwa Lungu as a painful loss to the nation.
Lungu, Zambia’s sixth president, died in South Africa yesterday while undergoing a medical procedure.
Lungu’s daughter, Tasila and Patriotic Front (PF) chairman for information and publicity Emmanuel Mwamba confirmed his death in separate statements.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Mast, Bishop Mulenga, whom Lungu visited at his diocesan office in Kabwe not long ago, urged Zambians to mourn with peace and dignity.
“It is a painful loss to many Zambians who looked up to the former president for guidance in the wake of the challenges the country was going through,” Bishop Mulenga said.
The Catholic bishop said Zambians needed to heal from the past and begin to look after one another with genuine Godly Love.
“Our condolences as a Diocese should go to the bereaved family and the nation as a whole on this great loss,” he said.
Bishop Mulenga said Lungu’s death should not be politicised as doing so would demean the country’s Christian Nation status.
“May God receive his soul as it rests in eternity and also forgive him of all the wrongs he might have committed,” Bishop Mulenga said.
“We have and shall always value the relationship we shared with the former President,” he said.
Tasila, who is Chawama member of Parliament, tearfully broke the death of her father to the nation.
“Fellow Zambians, it is with the profound soul that I announce the demise of His Excellency the sixth President of the Republic of Zambia, Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, who died this morning at 06:00 hours at Mediclinic Medforum Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa. My father, President Lungu, had been under medical supervision in recent weeks. His condition was managed with dignity and privacy, with support from all well-wishers,” she said.
Tasila appealed to the nation to mourn her father in peace, a virtue she said promoted One Zambia One Nation.
“In this moment of grief, we invoke the spirit of One Zambia One nation. The timeless creed that guided President Lungu’s service to our country. In time, the nation will be informed of other issues,” she said.
Dr Lungu was born on November 11, 1956 at Ndola Central Hospital.
He attended secondary education at Mukuba Secondary School in Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, before graduating with a Bachelors Degree of Law (LL.B.) in 1981 from the University of Zambia.
