President Edgar Lungu’s Rise and Reign

By Masauso Mkwayaya.

When the founding Father of the Patriotic Front, Micheal Sata died in November 2014, the Party needed to find an immediate replacement.

The person who was going to replace Michael Sata, was poised to represent the PF in the emergency elections which were held on January 20, 2015.

The January 20,  2015 Presidential elections were sparked by a clause in the 1996 Amended Constitution that required the country to hold elections ,within 3 months  after the death of an incumbent . 

This meant that the Patriotic Front only had 3 months in which to find a Presidential candidate to contest the 2015 elections.

And the person who appeared close to that task, was the then acting President Edgar Lungu.

As acting President, Edgar Lungu officiated at Zambia's Jubilee Celebrations which were held at Heroes Stadium.

This was Edgar Lungu’s major public appearance as Acting President.

And when he appeared to the crowd, clad in a green Chitenge wrapper, hanging on his left shoulder, with a wooden walking stick dangling in his hands, people screamed with excitement.

The screams and cheers from the crowd, perhaps made it apparent that the people loved the man, and imaginably needed him to be President.

It was at that event where  Lungu was coined as the Jubilee President.

But even as acting President, Edgar Lungu was to be subjected to an in house Presidential selection Process within the PF.

But before the process could even start, Edgar Lungu was forced to hand over Power as acting President to the then Vice President Guy Scott in unclear circumstances.

This signaled rough waters ahead of Lungu’s pursuit to steer the Patriotic Front as President.

From that point on-wards, the Jubilee man faced grueling opposition from within the PF.

A faction that emerged from the PF appeared to block Edgar who was also Defence and Justice Minister from becoming PF President.

During the same period, Edgar who also carried the title of PF Secretary General, was fired from that position, but was later reinstated the next day.

After weeks of ducking well calculated maneuvers to block him from heading the PF, Edgar emerged victorious after he was elected PF President, at the Mulungushi Rock of Authority during a PF Convention.

Most part of the 3 months that the PF had to campaign, was wasted in dealing with internal wrangles.

But with just less than 30 days to campaign Edgar Lungu took charge of the PF boat and contested the January 20, 2015 elections.

He won that election by a simple majority, beating his closet rival Hakainde Hichilema by just less than 2 percent.

During his inauguration on January 25, 2015, the Lawyer President immediately set the tone  by immediately appointing Dr. Ngosa Simbyakula as Justice Minister.

Lungu tasked the renowned Lawyer Simbyakula, with the responsibility to spearhead the adoption of the 2016 Amended Constitution . 

However, despite Lungu starting his 2015 tenure at a high note, his stay in Office was scheduled to last just slightly over a year ,in order to pave way for the August 11, 2016 general elections.

Though short, Edgar Lungu’s tenure in Office was to become one of the MOST challenging in Zambia’s Political history.

As President, Lungu was challenged with a daunting task to find solutions to the country’s worst ever Power deficit that led to the infamous load shedding.

Households were usually load shed for over 8 hours.  And Lungu was fully aware of these challenges .

This energy crisis led President Lungu to enter into emergency negotiations, with neighboring Mozambique for them to export electricity to Zambia.

It is also important to note that at that time, the entire Southern Africa Region was facing adverse Power deficits .Only Mozambique had enough Electricity .

But despite demand for electricity from other African countries who wanted to import the commodity from Mozambique, President Lungu managed to secure a  deal that saw Mozambique  export up to 148 Megawatts (MW) of electricity to Zambia.

That deal plus the commissioning of other energy facilities such as the 150 megawatts thermal fired Mamba Collieries Plant, reduced load shedding hours from 8 to 4 hours a day.

And that is not the only challenge  Lungu had to deal with, during his tenure, thousands of Jobs were lost in various Mines across the country. The  Job situation  in the Mines  had a huge potential to cost him his Job as President.

With Elections just around the corner, the Job situation in Mines mostly on the Copper belt ,paused a huge risk to the PF who have historically enjoyed support from the Province.

Thousands of Jobs were lost, and the mines blamed the situation on the high cost of production coupled with plummeting copper prices on the international market.

Elections were around the corner, the Opposition was capitalizing on the Job losses, the PF was slowly losing grip on the Province, and something had to be done to salvage the situation.

 Lungu made a bold decision.

The President directed that the miners be given land and be equipped with agriculture skills that would enable them to venture into farming in order to fend for themselves and their families.

The decision by the President saw the miners soften up a little.

But despite these many challenges, time was ticking for President Edgar Lungu to deliver on the Promises that he made during the 2015 campaigns.

One of those Promises that seemed a little ambitious and somewhat like mere rhetoric was the delivery of an amended Constitution to the People of Zambia.

This could be because Lungu’s Predecessors also made the same promises and never delivered on them.

But only time would tell whether the constitution talk would one day come to fruition.

But true to his promises made during the 2015 campaigns, the man who has become to be known as Mr. Walk the talk among his peers delivered the 2016 Amended Constitution to the Zambian People on January 5, 2016, just about 4 months before the commencement of the August 11 General Elections campaigns.

The assenting to the Amended Constitution was however not going to be all rosy.

 The Constitution has law provisions that required the country to subject itself to things that had not been done before in Zambia.

Some of these law provisions even affected the President himself and those around him.

When Parliament was dissolved, the President was of the opinion that Ministers needed to remain in Office.

But after a petition  to the ConCourt over the matter by Opposition Political Parties, the newly established Constitutional Court ruled otherwise.

And the President welcomed the development despite his initial opinion on the matter.

The President is on recording of saying the Courts decision was final regardless of him holding a different opinion earlier .

The Amended Constitution also provided for the Elections to be held under the 50 plus 1 electoral system that required a Presidential Candidate to gunner more than 50 percent of the total votes cast to be declared as President. 

The much anticipated Elections were held on August 11, 2016.

The Election results which were expected to be announced within 48 hours, delayed to come in due to a tedious verification process.

However ,after 4 days, on Monday 15 August, Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Chairperson Justice Esau Chulu who was the Presidential Returning Officer announced the Presidential election results.

Lungu who was declared winner of the elections was according to the Amended Constitution supposed to be sworn in a week after the announcement of the Official Election results.

But the President Could NOT be sworn in within the stipulated time because his election was petitioned in the Constitutional Court by the UPND President Hakainde Hichilema and his running mate Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba on grounds of alleged electoral irregularities .

The Amended Constitution stipulates that a Presidential Election petition should heard within 14 calendar days.

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After 14 days, the Courts threw out that petition on grounds time in which to hear it had elapsed.

As a result of that ruling Edgar Lungu managed to drive through the many barriers that were trying to block him from been inaugurated as President.

At exactly   10:35am the President’s motorcade which comprised  BMW elite police motorbikes flashing blue beacons drove inside the  60,000  capacity   National Heroes Stadium  to a roaring crowd .

The President elegantly protruded on top of a Black Toyota Land Cruiser VX, through its sun roof.

The Jubilee man was also seen flashing a clinched fist at the multitudes of people who gathered to witness his inauguration.

A few minutes later after driving round the stadiums' running track, President Edgar Lungu who was smartly clad in his signature blue suit and a red tie, took Oath of Office before Chief Justice Irene Mambilima.

After been sworn in, President Lungu stepped into the Presidential dais to receive a Presidential salute. He later inspected a guard of honor mounted by the Zambia Army second battalion. 

3 Fighter Jets also flew past the stadium emitting smoke with Zambian Colors.

The event which was also punctuated by well-choreographed military drills displayed by officers from security wings, was also witnessed by Botswana’s President Seretse Khama Ian Khama and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe plus many other Officials from other African countries. 

Various Opposition Political Parties also attended the event . And for Zambia’s only female contestant in the August 11 General Elections, Edith Nawakwi the inauguration of President Lungu meant time to move on. 

In an interview with this writer Nawakwi noted that Zambia is bigger than any one; as such energies should now be channeled towards National Development.

And National Restoration Party (NAREP) President Elias Chipimo who was sitting next to Nawakwi asked the Head of State to accommodate everyone in the running of his government.

Mr. Chipimo called on the President to be magnanimous enough and accommodate even those from the opposition.

And in his inaugural speech which he begun by greeting the  people at the stadium in Zambia’s 7 major local languages, Zambia's 6^th  President hinted that he wants to run a green orientated Government which will lead to the production of enough food for the country and the region.

The President announced that it is now a prerequisite for all senior government officials including Directors in government departments, to engage in any Agro related activities.

Lungu promised that he and his state house staff will lead the cause by example.

On Pre and Post electoral violence, Lungu indicated in his speech that he will constitute a commission of inquiry to examine factors that led to Pre and Post-election violence.

The President said the findings will be used as a lesson and reference in dealing with similar future occurrences. 

And Chief Mumena of the Kaonde people in North Western Province, noted that a Commission of inquiry was necessary and timely.

Meanwhile other Traditional leaders namely King Mwata Yamvo of the Lunda people and Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people,  appealed to the President to prioritize the Promotion of Peace and Unity in the country.

Meanwhile Former Acting Chief Justice who is also President of the COMESA Court of Justice ,Lombe Chibesakunda called for the sharpening and refining of some problematic parts contained in the Constitution.

Justice Chibesakunda stated that the constitution was not a permanent document as such it needed to be re-looked at and sharpened.

President Edgar Lungu who has been coined as Mr. Walk the talk now has 5 years to walk the Zambian people to the realization of his promises.

One such promise is the consideration of nuclear  energy as an alternative source of energy .
The President indicated that  exploration works have already started in the Northern parts of Zambia

The President however emphasized that the responsibility to develop Zambia should be  in individual efforts from all Zambians.