Lungu’s foreign policy is corrupt, without principles – Musumali
By Staff Reporter
SOCIALIST Party General Secretary Dr Cosmas Musumali says President Edgar Lungu’s foreign is corrupt and without principles.
According to a statement posted on the Socialist Party website today, Dr Musumali said the shameful saga surrounding Zimbabwe opposition leader, Tendai Biti’s deportation out of Zambia last week was not surprising.
“Ever since President Lungu came into power, Zambia is no longer the safe haven that it once was for those running away from political repression and persecution,” reads the statement. “Tendai Biti and those accompanying him should have known better. The Zambia situation is just as bad as, if not worse than, in Zimbabwe”.
Dr Musumali expressed concern that the Zambia that once accepted all politically persecuted was today lawless and without compassion.
“President Lungu, his advisors and associates were de facto the law. They are the unrestricted alpha and omega over peoples lives. Local and international laws are of no consequence,” he said.
Dr Musumali said this reactionary development was also widely reflected in President Lungu’s foreign policy.
“Take the example of Zambia’s long-standing support for the Polisario Front. On February 19, 2016, the president still assured Salam El-Mami, Western Sahara’s ambassador to Zambia, of “our relentless collective calls for the independence of the people of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.”
“However, in February 2017, after the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, suddenly visited Zambia and signed 19 partnership agreements, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Harry Kalaba said Zambia does not recognise Western Sahara”.
Dr Musumali said it was clear that President Lungu had sold off the bond between Zambia and the struggling Sahrawi masses for some “pieces of silver”.
He said with the turn of events, it was a clear indication that the Zambian foreign policy was no longer about humanity and the common good of the Zambian masses.
“It (Zambia) was up for grabs to the highest bidder. The shame and disgrace this move brought on Zambia is immense,” he said.
Dr Musumali also reminded Zambians how the country had abandoned the Palestinian cause, which initiated by late president Frederick Chiluba and completed by President Lungu by the opening of an embassy in Isreal 2015.
“This came 42 years after Zambia had joined progressive African countries to severe diplomatic ties with Israel following the Yom Kippur War,” Dr Musumali said. “In addition, during the liberation struggle, Israel openly stood firm on the side of the colonial forces and apartheid South Africa”.
He said the Israeli weapons and know-how facilitated the slaughter of thousands of African civilians while the liberation struggle and the cause of the Palestinian people logically became inseparable.
“Southern Africa eventually got its nominal political independence, but the plight of the
Palestinians continues,” Dr Musumali said. A foreign policy that ignores this historical link and human obligation is immoral and bankrupt”.
He said the process surrounding Biti’s deportation was highly revealing and points to President Lungu as a calculating and cold-blooded executioner.
Dr Musumali said the security immigration and police officers at the Chirundu border acted professionally and defended Biti against the overzealous Zimbabwean officers who were determined to arrest him from the Zambian side of the border.
He said although the Zambian courts also acted rationally and ruled in favour of Biti to be accorded refugee status, he was forcibly thrown out of the country into the hands of the Zimbabwean authorities.
Dr Musumali said all fingers should point at President Lungu as he was ultimately responsible.
“The entire global community is appalled and shocked. There are even threats from the United States government to withhold development aid,” he said.
Dr Musumali however, warned that such threats would not move President Lungu and his PF government as withholding American support in health, education and governance would only hurt the poor beneficiaries.
“What would bother President Lungu and his 50 close associates plus family members would be a global freeze of all their over-seas assets, businesses, transactions and travel for the next 20 years. This is the only language this clique understands,” he stated.
