Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema shunts ex-le...

Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema shunts ex-leader Lungu off plane to South Korea

Zim Now Writer

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has blocked former president Edgar Changwa Lungu from travelling to attend a conference in South Korea.

Lungu had been invited along with other eminent persons, who include former presidents in the region, as a guest speak at a World Peace Conference taking place in South Korea, and he had reportedly made his own personal arrangements for his travel to South Korea.

In a report dated September 16, the Smart Eagles said government, using officers from the Immigration Department, ejected former Republican President Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu off a plane he had boarded that was destined for South Korea.

“Government this Saturday afternoon stopped former President Edgar Lungu from travelling. President Lungu was scheduled to fly out to South Korea via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“He was checked in and given boarding passes and proceeded to the plane but due to sudden instructions 'from above' the airport officials quickly got him off the plane and announced to him that they had cancelled his trip.

“The former President was invited as guest speaker together with other former presidents in the region to a World Peace Conference to be held in Seoul, South Korea,” the report said.

The Former Head of State had made personal arrangements to travel for the conference in South Korea.

Analysts said the former president, Edgar Lungu, has absolute rights to travel to any place of his choosing at home and abroad without having to require permission from any kind of authority.

“He is only expected to notify government of his intent to travel and in turn government facilitates his travel but in the event that government refuses to facilitate, the former head of state is at liberty to make his personal arrangements for any such travel,” reads the report.

Lungu was only last week denied permission to travel to South Africa for medical attention by Hichilema.

Two weeks ago, Lungu accepted an invitation and travelled for Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s inauguration in Harare, an event that Hichilema boycotted and sent his Foreign Affairs Minister.

Locally, Hichilema faces protests over sky-rocketing food prices, including the staple maize meal. One of Hichilema’s promises when he got into power, ironically after beating Lungu, was to ensure the price of maize meal was reduced within two weeks if he was elected president.

Hichilema has been in power since 2021, but if anything, the cost of the staple has gone up.