Sikota: Honour Lungu in Full — Not Just in Death
United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) Chairperson and senior lawyer Sakwiba Sikota has urged Zambians to honour the legacy of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu in totality not just with polished tributes after his passing, but with truth, reflection, and humility about how he was treated in life.
Speaking in a solemn interview with Costa Mwansa on Diamond TV, Sikota reflected on the late president’s public and political journey, warning against the growing trend to rewrite his story through emotional eulogies that omit the pain he endured after leaving office.
“This is a man who led the country for seven years,” Sikota emphasized. “He made mistakes, like any leader, but he also gave his service to the nation. If we strip him of dignity in life and only honour him in death, what message are we sending to those who serve today?”
As Chairperson of UKA a political alliance that includes the Patriotic Front, under which Lungu served, Sikota spoke with personal reverence and institutional perspective. He described Lungu as a “humble, soft-spoken man who led with a quiet strength,” and warned that the current outpouring of praise must not be used to mask the hostilities Lungu faced in his final years.
Following his retirement in 2021, Lungu largely withdrew from public life. But Sikota recounted how mounting frustration including the withdrawal of his retirement benefits, government pushback against his public appearances, and what many viewed as a concerted campaign to sideline him, contributed to his return to active politics.
“President Lungu didn’t come back because he was hungry for power,” Sikota said. “He came back because he saw what was happening to democracy, to opposition freedoms, and to the very institutions he once led. He felt compelled to speak again not for himself, but for the people who still believed in him.”
Sikota said it was impossible to separate the treatment Lungu received in retirement from the political resurgence that followed. “You can only push a man so far,” he noted. “Eventually, he will stand up not out of pride, but out of principle.”
He recalled how, even while re-entering the political arena, Lungu remained composed and focused on unifying the opposition. “He could have attacked. He could have been bitter. But he wasn’t. He was measured,” Sikota said.
Now, in the wake of Lungu’s death, Sikota challenged those who criticized the former president in life but praise him in death to reflect honestly on their roles. “You cannot erase the years of silence and mockery with one tribute,” he said. “Honour must be earned when it matters not just when it’s convenient.”
As Zambia prepares for Lungu’s burial, emotions remain high, and political narratives are being reshaped in real time. But Sikota’s message is one of maturity and introspection: that reconciliation, like remembrance, must be full, not selective.
“If we truly respect this man,” he concluded, “let’s remember both the good and the hard truths. Let’s not clean up history to suit our emotions. Let us face it, and learn from it.”
Yeah, I get it. News headlines all over the world has been a disgrace, just of chaps making up stuff that ECL this and that. Dead people speak. Let’s give the former a peaceful burial.
ECL suffered, he was to be circumcised by UPND caders. He was not allowed to leave the country. He could not even jog in his country and yet you have cadres like Kabimba trivialising all that. The other guy who calls himself a church elder was busy revenging because according to him he says he was arrested 15 times. Is there any person who can be arrested 15 times for nothing. Can lessons be learnt here now. And can we unite please
To have been given the privilege to serve as President of the Republic of Zambia was an honour Edgar Lungu got when he was alive. I do not know what else the estimable Sakwiba Sikota SC wants.
Then a person who was not even there wants to champion things like ECL never said this or that. Can we please put something in the unpopular bill 7 that says if a party has no MP or 5 councillors at the end of a 5 year parliamentary course it should be deregistered so that we can have non existent parties like MMD, EF and tuma others go extinct and reducing this over crowding where people are masquerading as Party Presidents just to be invited for food at national events.