Let Us Not Be Hypocritical About Dignity
Let Us Not Be Hypocritical About Dignity
While calls for a dignified and respectful funeral for the late Sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, are indeed noble and necessary, they ring hollow without an honest reflection on how he was treated in his final years.
It is public knowledge that President Lungu our former Head of State and Commander-in-Chief was subjected to repeated political humiliation, unlawful harassment, and systematic character assassination. Despite the constitutional guarantees accorded to former presidents, he was denied his full benefits, his security was stripped, and his public appearances were routinely disrupted by State machinery.
Most disturbingly, he was reportedly blocked from traveling abroad for medical attention, a basic human right that even ordinary citizens are entitled to.
Today, those who presided over or remained silent in the face of such degrading treatment want to preach unity and national mourning. But dignity in death must be preceded by dignity in life.
You cannot strip a man of honor while he is alive and expect to clothe him with borrowed respect when he is gone.
If this nation truly believes in One Zambia, One Nation, then that spirit should have guided how we treated President Lungu all along not just in his death, but in his retirement and illness. Let this moment not become a political smokescreen, but a time for true introspection.
As Zambians, we are not against mourning what we reject is hypocrisy dressed as unity.
Abraham Simpamba
Independent Aspiring Candidate for Chililabombwe Constituency.
