SATA’S DEATH: … more demand probe

CHITE MTONGA and AARON CHIYANZO MORE leaders have joined calls to probe the death of presidents Michael Sata and Levy Mwanawasa who died in office unlike Dr Frederick Chiluba who passed on after leaving office.

A commission of inquiry under the Public Inquiries Act must be instituted to establish circumstances that led to the death of President Michael Chilufya Sata to avoid mysterious deaths of sitting Heads of State in future, Patriotic Front (PF) youth activist Julius Komaki has equally demanded.

On Saturday during President Sata's memorial service, former Republican Vice President Enock Kavindele demanded that a commission of inquiry be established to investigate what caused President Sara's mysterious death while in office.

Supporting Mr Kavindele's demand, Mr Komaki said as a concerned PF member, there was need for President Edgar Lungu to set up a commission of inquiry over President Sata's death.

Mr Komaki said the issues raised by Mr Kavindele should not be ignored as they were very serious.

"We need a commission of inquiry as concerned Patriotic Front youths. We need the President to institute a commission of inquiry over the death of former President Mr Michael Chilufya Sata.

And Green Party president Peter Sinkamba also says an inquiry was necessary for presidents that died while serving.

“In the same way the constitution demands that a board of medical personnel be constituted when a sitting President is sick, so should investigations into the demise of a sitting Head of State be done to ascertain the true cause of death,” Mr Sinkamba said. He told the Daily Nation in an interview that the general public had the right to know the cause of death, whenever a sitting President died. He explained that in some instances, the cause of death is not clear or highly suspicious and that there was no way such deaths could be leftt without question. And National Restoration Party president Dr Cosmo Mumba also appealed to President Lungu to constitute a commission of inquiry into the death of president Sata.