The news emanating from South Africa around the issue of former president, Edgar Lungu makes sad reading. For instance, the South African government has confirmed that the Lungu family had permanent resident status of that country. Where’s the sense of patriotism here? How can a President maintain unbreakable ties with another country to the extent of even acquiring identify documents, let alone massively investing in that country? Isn’t that worst betrayal of one’s country?
From the time ba Lungu found himself a tenant in State House, his nationality has been a matter of intense debate, and as controversial as it could get! There are conflicting accounts of where he was born – Kitwe’s Chimwemwe township and Ndola ‘Central’ Hospital in 1956…..How can a human being be born in two different places?
What is now known as Ndola Central Hospital was called Ndola Hospital and it was a whites only facility prior to Independence! How is it possible then that ba Lungu was born in Ndola Hospital?
Was ba Lungu really one of us……or even a patriotic citizen?
Let’s us put this in a proper perspective: Our first President, Kenneth Kaunda traced his roots back to Chinsali in the present day Muchinga province; Frederick Chiluba always reminded us of having his umbilical cord buried kwa Musangu, Luapula province while it is common knowledge Levy Mwanawasa hailed from kwi Lamba, Ndola rural.
Although he is said to have spent part of his youthful days in Zimbabwe, there’s no doubt about it, Rupiah Banda’s parents came from Chipata, Eastern province where he briefly settled after saying ‘adios’ to politics. And everyone of us knows Micheal Sata was from Chitulika village in Mpika, Northern province where his father happened to be a village headman before he had enough of making tea for the muzungus.
Incumbent President, Hakainde Hichilema is from Bweengwa, Southern province. All of us have been privy to this have even before he set foot into the colonial mansion at Plot 1 Independence Avenue!
The 1 billion Kwacha question is, who knows about ba Lungu’s village? What about his Chief or village headman? How come his blood relatives – brothers, sisters, uncles and aunties are still missing in action when one Makebi Zulu, his lawyer, has stolen the show? During his presidency for instance, did we ever see anyone from his village claiming to be his relative? Where has that so-called sister of his come from at this late hour?
What is the genuine identify of ba Lungu, imwe mwe bantu?
Mike Mulongoti and his colleague, Fresher Siwale tried to put matters to rest when they came up with earth shattering claims ba Lungu was masquerading under stolen identity….his real name was Jonathan Mutaware of Malawian or Mozambican extraction whose parents came to Northern Rhodesia to work in the mines on the Copperbelt in the early 50s.
Of course, this matter came up in court in 2018. But lo and behold, Mulongoti passed on mysteriously before the nation could get to know the truth while Siwale is battling illness somewhere in Lusaka after being brutally tortured while in prison.
What about Social media reports are getting he was in possession of a Zimbabwean passport, two different diplomatic passports from two other countries and two green passports at the time of admission to hospital?
Ba News Diggers naimwe, you aren’t reputed for investigative journalism for nothing. Can’t you smell anything fishy here? Please assign someone with a good nose for news to sniff around this issue.
Prince Bill M Kaping’a
Political/Social Analyst
I think the Lungu family have opened a pandoras box that was best kept closed. We would never have known that Lungu had applied for permanent residency in south africa if they had kept a low profile! Not sure what all this bitterness towards HH is all about. The PF are the ones who persecuted HH as an opposition leader- even led to the shooting of several UPND supporters and or bystanders. It shows what calibre of people the PF and the Lungu family trully are/were. What exactly did Lungu die of? We knew the cause of death of all the other presidents why is this one a secret? Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones!
A former President can’t just wake up and do that. For sure there must have been extenuating circumstances. No wonder as a patient, he was neglected by government to die there while trying to show crocodile tears now
Is Bill Kapinga a patriotic citizen….or even Zambian?
Was KK zambian ??
Whether ECL was or wasn’t why question now
The fact remains he was voted in to be president
Ok then who caused more damage to zambia then ? KK or ECL
We all knew KK’s parentage while President Lungu’s is wrapped in secrecy.
Yes KK was Zambian. His Malawian roots are known. His father came to Northern Rhodesia. He fought, and was imprsoned, for Northern Rhodesia to become Zambia. In that respect he was a Zambian. He is more Zambian than Barak Obama is American. Questioning now because of strange things: a sister pitches up from nowhere, no other relative with her, no even any one of her children; A family of only wife (who does not represent Lungu family lineage) and sister only at the funeral (the rest children), and the representative is an outsider. Strange indeed, and never head of in Zambia.
The Lungu family is okay. Your ill advised government has taken the issue to court, so why not wait for that. Why is Kaping’a and yourselves panicking and posting these that are not true AS USUAL
Fear maybe
The question is when did he obtain South African residence…..so much corruption at Home Affairs office in South Africa…Money talks….and this means he was a fake Patriot
There was nothing straight in the life of the late president ECL……
He was always operating within gray areas of the law……
Had his immunity been lifted, Zambians would have been shocked at the extent of the corruption
FWD2031
This is another lie by this guy. ECL was the best President for Zambia, my mealie was K130, my fuel was K17 and I did not have these long loadshedding hours because even in his tenure we had serious droughts. Long live Chagwa. Love him or hate him, simply a great President
If you dont operate within grey areas in Zambia you going nowhere
Ask any corporate/business and by the way its not illegal
Non partisan character Or is it mr multiple alias
Ati lungu was the best president. ???
He was the worst…..
Ati I was buying maize meal at k170 ?
I was buying it cheaper under RB , so ?
FWD2031
Kampinga leka ubufi. ECL was born in Ndola. Before independence big government hospitals had sections for whites and blacks ie for Ndola Central and Kitwe Central hospitals, even for the shops blacks used to buy goods from a window and whites will buy from inside. ECL grew up in Chimwemwe completed Secondary school at Mukuba Secondary School and passed to go UNZA where he was a classmate with Winter Kabimba. There is law now to have dual citizenship and it does not state that if you are a former President you can’t have dual citizenship. Take his corpse to court if you are bitter over the passports.
I am surprised you even read this guys articles. These are bitter people and remember they know that had ECL stood for Presidency in 2026 they stood no chance. Reason you saw, all the road blocks.
Former or current Presidents should not be allowed to have dual citizenship for the sake of national security. South Africa is not an enemy country of Zambia, but lets say it was, and Lungu obtains citizenship there as a former President, wouldn’t that be a threat to Zambia’s national security? Heck, he would be a great source of classified info about the country he governed. Lungu was a traitor, and a very corrupt individual. No patrioticism. And no I’m not UPND, and I don’t think HH is doing a better job at governing the country either.
If Lungu had dual citizenship, then he should not have been travelling to South Africa holding a diplomatic passport. If you enter South Africa as a dual citizen, you use a South African passport like some us do.
That the family would even entertain the idea of burying him in another country shows that these charlatans have no love for Zambia. They were only ever interested in self enrichment but otherwise HAVE NO TIES WHATSOEVER TO ZAMBIA AND THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE!
There is no law compelling any one to love Zambia. So if one loves or hates Zambia, how does it affect you.
#Respect the family wishes
Burry your loved one wherever you want, you are at liberty. And don’t be demonised by that. You have absolute freedom. Ignore the UPND cadres planted here to demonise you.
It always happens when countries have paper-constitutions, no robust national identity or safeguards…look what the americans trumped-up, like out of a proper grub-pit!!
Remember as HH says that Zambians are lazy, so this hollow article that idle mind Kaping’a has posted will be commented on by fellow idle minds like the coward calling itself spaka the whole day today. What a country. No wonder you are putting politics in front of the noble wishes of the family. In any funeral any where in the world whether for an ordinary man or a former President, the family is the final authority. And the SA law is very clear
Tell HH to stop and rather look at loadshedding otherwise it may well be bye bye
No tricks this time before elections like 24hrs power, good exchange rate, low mealie meal prices, enpowerment, or unrealistic promises etc
yes, in Zambia, we have highly qualified news men and women. Indeed we shall get some where.
Is he even DEAD, DEAD?
Why are they hiding the body even from the South African authorities.
Show us the death certificate. You can redact the cause of death.
Well, it is just terrible for a man to be the way he was. Just terrible.
GOOD ANALYSIS INDEED BA KAPINGA, BUT AS PART OF SOCIAL STUDIES AND OR CIVICS STUDIES
IN SCHOOLS IN ZAMBIA. CAN YOU TELL US THE PARENT NAMES OF OUR CURRENT PRESIDENT. BOTH
PARENTS PLEASE ( FATHER and MOTHER)
Gerrout Fuseke iwe!
ECL muntu saana, even in his death, he is still keeping the government on its toes, they have refused to bury him in Sasa as if they had paid his medical bills… Zoona this drama appears to be…… S.p.i.r.i.t.u.a.l
You have spooked us out baba, let the family put ECL to rest in Sasa if they they so wish
Lusaka times has also approved my message
So who was HH’s father? Why is criticising HH termed as hatred? Even in death ECL is insulted by HH is protected. But this time sympathy will not work for votes. HH must work for the vote.
Yes, whom is HH’s father?? How come he no longer uses Sammy Chintombwa or is it Chintomfwa? You should first find out who HH is before you start writing about others. Getting residency in any country is very different from getting citizenship. It simply means that you don’t need to get a visa for you to visit or to live in the country indefinately. Some countries require you to do if you want to buy property or rum a business. We should ask why HH has accounts in Panama. What is he hiding??
@Beenzu bauze bamvesese lelo!
In the days before the arrival of Social Media, Bill Kapinga s silly article with concocted facts wouldnt have been passed for publication by any sane editor, whether it be a news editor or a Features Editor. This is because it offers nothing except rabble rousing. Every bus-stop theory is being passed to us.
Some wanna-know-it all cant sleep because his wife hasnt come home so he comes upwith some insipid suppositions from his blank head. If ECL could be reported to be a Zimbabwean or South African or Malawian my life would be a bit more exciting so let me pass this nonsense to LT since they never mind about the source of my imaginations.
Ati ba analyst! What on earth are you analysing when all this is just bar-talk? The article wouldnt pass for publication in a kindergarten school magazine.
Those of us who follow Zambian politics know that KK was not born in Chinsali and he didnt hide it. Zambian media in the 90s did tell us that Chiluba who never knew where he was born was actually born in the DRC because some Luapulans in those days used a Mission hospital across the river for their ailments or for medical attention. This was a hot public debate in Zambia at the birth of the Third Republic.
Any mature citizen who knows that Zambia is landlocked and with ARTIFICIAL borders made by foreigners called colonialists wont start wasting time squealing about who comes from where because its a fruitless debate. All of you save for a few can be purported to have come from any of the eight surrounding countries. Kapinga just go back home to Angola and do a social science programme and learn about editorialising-with facts before you call yourself an analyst. Analyst wa bwali ububishi nabo.
If you use KK as the template, many fall short. But since it is PF, I will use Sata. No, Edgar Lungu was not a patriot and prioritized self-interest over national ideals. Which person in their right minds wants to be buried in a foreign country? Let alone away from the land he ruled for 7 years. What Edgar Lungu and his family deem persecution is laughable. These people fly overseas and have mansions all over not to mention that we know that the salary of a president is negligible. Oh please.
Who are you to declare people Zambian or non Zambian?
Me thinks ECL was a classic case of identity theft. I submit!