Thabo Kawana’s claim that former President Edgar Lungu needed permission to travel beyond the funeral is a thinly veiled attempt to stifle his political influence, revealing the government’s undemocratic methods.
Lusaka, Oct. 23 – In an extraordinary display of political gymnastics, Ministry of Information and Media Permanent Secretary, Thabo Kawana, had attempted to downplay what many Zambians saw as an outright restriction of former President Edgar Lungu’s movements. Kawana has refuted media reports of an attack on Lungu’s motorcade, vehemently denying that any UPND cadres had stoned his convoy.
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Instead, he pivoted to the puzzling claim that Lungu was only stopped because he didn’t have “permission” to visit certain areas in Chingola beyond the funeral he was attending. The audacity of this assertion has left many Zambians scratching their heads in disbelief. Since when does a former president, a man who once held the highest office in the land, need permission to roam freely in his own country?
The more one examines this, the clearer it becomes that the restriction has little to do with security concerns and more to do with silencing a political figure. If protecting the former president were truly the goal, surely the solution would involve enhancing his security, not corralling him within specific zones like a wayward sheep. This smacks of a thinly veiled attempt to box Lungu in, preventing him from mingling with his support base in places like Chiwempala and Chililabombwe. Such tactics are not only undemocratic but also absurd, insulting the intelligence of Zambians who can see through the paper-thin justifications.
President Hichilema’s administration seems to be pulling from the authoritarian playbook, and Kawana’s explanation only adds to the farcical nature of it all. The idea that a former president requires “permission” to move about is nothing short of laughable. It raises the question: who will be next in line to require similar permission slips? In truth, restricting Lungu’s movements does nothing to protect him – it only reinforces the perception that the government is wary of his political influence.
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Zambians are not blind to these maneuvers. Democracy, by its very nature, demands that all voices – especially those of former leaders – be allowed to echo freely in the public square. Anything less is an affront to the principles of the very democracy the current administration claims to uphold. No amount of spin or wordplay can change that fact.
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