Former Attorney General Musa Mwenye State Counsel says refusal by a defeated regime to surrender power to elected authority amounts to a coup d’état, and has condemned statements from politicians suggesting that they would not give up “the sweet they are enjoying in government after the 2021 general elections”.

Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo told Ndola residents in his Kabushi constituency, Monday, that it was foolish for anyone to think that PF would simply surrender power in 2021 and give up the sweet that they were enjoying in government.

“You think we can leave the sweet we are feeling now? Bupuba ubo nomba (That is now foolishness). Hakainde, we are ready for you because our President Edgar Lungu, the Commander-in-Chief has delivered to the people of Zambia. Go anywhere, you will see development and and you think we can give up power?” wondered Honourable Lusambo.

But Mwenye who is also former Solicitor General said such sentiments were a threat to the historic peaceful transfer of power that Zambia has been enjoying, and warned that refusing to surrender power amounted to treason.

“Zambia has seen the peaceful and democratic transfer of power from one political party to another two times. We are one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has achieved this and we should be proud of this. It is therefore unfortunate that some of our leaders are publicly declaring that they would never give up power whether or not they lost elections. Refusal to handover power when one has lost elections is by definition an unconstitutional and illegal power grab. In other words it is a coup d’état,” said Mwenye

“Pronouncements to this effect, are not only unfortunate but unpatriotic and potentially criminal and must never be uttered by responsible leaders.”