Police in Zambia caution former president against unlawful assemblies

By James Kunda

LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) - Police in Zambia cautioned former President Edgar Lungu on Thursday against conducting unlawful assemblies.

Lungu led a procession Thursday in the Central Business District (CBD) of the nation’s capital in Lusaka -- a move police said disrupted public peace and order.

“We urge former president Lungu to conduct himself within the confines of the law and to refrain from actions that disrupt public peace and order. Failure to comply will result in the necessary legal actions being taken,” police spokesman Rae Hamoonga said in a statement.

Hamoonga said Lungu led individuals in a procession that caused significant disruptions to traffic and public order and safety.

“We want to emphasize that such actions constitute an unlawful assembly and regardless of one's former status as a head of state, adherence to the law is non-negotiable. We hereby caution former president Lungu that no one is above the law and the police will not hesitate to enforce it,” he added.

But in a Facebook post, Lungu said he went to the CBD to have a feel of how traders are with what he termed as an apparent high cost of doing business.

“While we toured the CBD, we came across a woman trader selling tomatoes and onions by the roadside and stopped to buy some for our homes, I was personally amazed by how high the prices of commodities have become under the current regime. Prices of commodities are indeed very high for ordinary Zambians and something drastic has to be done by those in authority to ensure that our people’s lives are made much more bearable than the apparent situation,” he wrote.

Lungu lost the 2021 general elections by a landslide of more than 1 million votes to incumbent Hakainde Hichilema.

Despite announcing his retirement soon after the elections, he resurfaced last year with an announcement he had returned to active politics.

Lungu is, however, currently embroiled in a legal row concerning the leadership of the Patriotic Front, the party that sponsored his candidacy in 2021, with speculation surrounding his eligibility to run in the next general election in 2026.