A MARKED MAN

An impeachment motion against Edgar Lungu may be unlikely to succeed, but it aids opposition efforts to undermine his legitimacy as president

In something of a departure from Zambia’s usually predictable political environment, the country’s main opposition party has filed a motion to impeach president Edgar Lungu for violating the constitution.

But even though all the relevant constitutional provisions have been met, the motion may be delayed beyond June after an initial delay meant it didn’t take place in March. At the time, the speaker said she was not bound to table the motion within the period the opposition expected.

The impeachment motion follows political and economic upsets in the landlocked country. It was initiated by the United Party for National Development (UPND) after Lungu failed to hand over power to parliament’s speaker when UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema challenged the country’s August 2016 election results.

It is good to know that some people in the [ruling] Patriotic Front are worried about the runaway train Zambia has become under Lungu Laura Miti What it means: Zambia’s high court has yet to decide whether a vote to impeach the president should be given the go-ahead

Lungu is also accused of interfering with the judiciary after he warned constitutional court judges against emulating those in Kenya, who nullified that country’s presidential election result last year. Lungu warned them not to rule against his third term bid as doing so would bring chaos to the country.

Lungu is also under attack for the state of the economy. Opposition MPS say he has failed to manage the country’s economy and resources and has borrowed beyond Zambia’s capacity to pay back.

The act of seeking judicial review by Patriotic Front (PF) members has not gone down well with some pressure groups.

Laura Miti, director of the alliance, says it hints at alarm in the PF.

“The panic which the possibility of the impeachment motion being tabled in parliament elicited among

Lungu’s inner team suggests they had intelligence that some PF members would support it. It is good to know that some people in the PF are worried about the runaway train Zambia has become under Lungu,” she says.

The matter of the motion’s eligibility is still before the court.

Opposition MPS met the required one-third quota to file an impeachment motion.

The speaker of parliament has acknowledged: “In terms of whether or not the process or the motion that was being proposed had complied with the constitutional provisions, it had done so.”

Should the vote go ahead, it is the state of the economy that may come to haunt Lungu.

According to official government figures, Zambia’s debt stands at about Us$7bn.

But there are suggestions that Lungu and his bureaucrats are hiding the real figure, which is likely higher and unsustainable.

The former ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy says Zambia’s current debt could be as much as $30bn.

And Hichilema has accused

Lungu of inflating the cost of infrastructure projects, giving him room to plunder state resources. He says Lungu approved a sum of $1.3bn to build a dualcarriage road between Lusaka and Ndola.

“He breached the constitution because he swore to protect public assets and resources by acting prudently. That contract should cost no more than $400m. Why did it cost an additional $900m? That is what citizens want to hear,” Hichilema recently said at Lusaka’s magistrate complex.

Notwithstanding these accusations, analysts say Lungu has maintained political and economic stability in Zambia, which has continued to attract investors. That he has embarked on infrastructure projects has also been welcomed.

Then there are concerns over Lungu’s alleged intolerance of opposing views. He asked Cuba to recall its ambassador earlier this month, accusing him of breaking diplomatic etiquette when he attended the launch of the Socialist Party in the capital.

The recent arrest of some opposition leaders has added to these fears.

But will these claims — many of which are untested — be enough to result in Lungu’s impeachment?

Zambia’s constitution says an impeachment motion can only pass if it gets the support of two-thirds of the votes cast by MPS. Of parliament’s 166 seats, the UPND holds 58 and the ruling party 89.

Most of the rest are held by independent candidates, who have until now aligned themselves with the ruling party.

This means the motion is unlikely to succeed.

Miti would like to see MPS vote in the interest of Zambia, rather than along party lines. “A good number of PF insiders did not sign up to hurt the country the way the Lungu administration is doing. That is not why they joined politics.”

The right thing for Zambia, she says, would be for the country’s MPS to impeach the president.