CEASE MEANS STOP. NOT PAUSE. NOT SUSPEND : "A former President shall cease to receive benefits if they become actively involved in politics." - The Zambian Observer
By Danson Lungu
CEASE MEANS STOP. NOT PAUSE. NOT SUSPEND
All this time, they told us Edgar Lungu lost his retirement benefits the moment he returned to active politics and they were quoting the Benefits of Former Presidents Act word for word:
“A former President shall cease to receive benefits if they become actively involved in politics.”
✅ Cease means STOP. Not pause. Not suspend. Not ‘we’ll see later.’
But now suddenly they’re saying his benefits were only “suspended”… so they can quietly restore them.
This is the same government that removed his security, vehicles, pension, and housing while telling the whole nation: “The law is clear.” Now they’re rewriting that same law to serve political convenience?
Let’s be clear:
The law doesn’t allow suspension. Once you go back into politics, the benefits are gone.
There’s no mechanism in the Act for “restoring” them.
If they want to change the law, they should go to Parliament, not play legal gymnastics in the media.
This is not about ECL anymore it’s about the rule of law and the dangerous precedent being set. Today it’s Lungu. Tomorrow it could be anyone.
️ Let’s call it what it is: political hypocrisy dressed up as legal reasoning.
✍️ By Danson Lungu
#Zambia #RuleOfLaw #PoliticalDoubleStandards #Accountability
_1751880097.jpeg)